One Last Night of Peace
by Darkmoose84
Summary: Taking place in between "Northwest Mansion Mystery" and "Not What He Seems", Pacifica gets to share an evening on the roof with Dipper before having a prophetic nightmare within the Black Lodge, leading to her desire to help the Mystery Twins in their quest to stop the apocalypse. References to Twin Peaks, Invader Zim, Supernatural, and Welcome to Night Vale included. Please R&R
1. One Last Night of Peace

The party was going as well as could be expected, considering the ordeal everyone had undergone. There was cheering from wall to wall, souls intermingling with one another, a grand room teeming with life and joyousness. Dipper proceeded through the crowd towards the cider fountain, grabbed an empty glass, and filled it up from the spicket towards the top so as not to disturb the now tired Manly Dan who was resting in the base pool.

"Dipper!" he heard his sister yell as she ran across the room to him and proceeded to expel an unnaturally fast sentence from her lungs, "What happened? One minute, my eyes can only see in a woody filter, the next Marius is asking Grenda out, which is awesome in the same way a rainbow-laser-shooting unicorn in a tuxedo would be awesome, but I'm still confused as to where those five minutes of my life went." Mabel then took a breath and continued. "And what was that weird blue fire beard guy? He looked like he came out of some Halloween themed Brawny commercial!"

"That would have been a category ten ghost," Dipper replied.

"And you got him, right?" Mabel asked, "He's not going to put the wood filter over our eyes again? Seeing the world in brown forever would just get boring."

"Actually," Dipper began, "it wasn't me this time. I'll let you guess who got rid of him."

There was a long pause.

"You don't mean...?" Mabel stammered.

"Pacifica busted her own ghost."

"That's...that's amazing," Mabel responded, "Deep down, I guess maybe I knew she had it in her to do something awesome. How did she manage that?"

"She accepted the people her parents wouldn't," Dipper said, grinning, "I think we're really starting to see a new side of her."

"There you are, Dipper," Pacifica said, brushing through the crowd, "I was worried you left after I talked to the clean-up crew. Come on, I want to show you something." She turned and looked at Mabel, and a weird mix of emotions ran through them both before Pacifica blurted out, "I'm kidnapping your brother for a little while. Hope you don't mind." With that, she grabbed him by the hand into the crowd, disappearing from Mabel's view.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Mabel exclaimed. Then she thought of what could possibly be happening between them and smiled. Is this not what she wanted, to possibly make a friend out of Pacifica and for her brother to get his mind off Wendy?

Pacifica dragged Dipper up the stairs to a very musty attic. Something about the cool air and the poor lighting made it seem like the place to still be haunted.

"Is it safe up here?" Dipper asked, "No more ghosts that we're forgetting to exorcize?" Pacifica groaned.

"No," she responded, "I think it's pretty much ghost free. There's another reason I brought you up here." She led him towards a ladder. "This leads to the roof. I was thinking, if you like, we could sit on the roof together and look at the stars. The rain is clearing up, so maybe some of the clouds will, too."

"Well, you kinda forced me up here," Dipper said, laughing, "How can I say no?" He looked over at a box of old toys, one of which had a plastic llama sticking out of it. "Are these your old toys?"

"Yes," she said with a sigh, "That llama used to be one of my favorites. I heard somewhere that they were 'nature's greatest warriors,' whatever that means. Still, I've always had a thing for llamas."

"My sister has a llama sweater."

"Ha, that's kinda funny," she said, "Maybe we're more alike than I thought. But I would imagine your sister has a sweater of everything." She picked up the llama and stuffed it in Dipper's pocket. "And now, it's yours."

"Why's that?" Dipper asked.

"That way," she said, blushing, "you'll have something to remember this night."  
"I don't think I'll have trouble remembering this night," Dipper said with another laugh.

"Same here," she giggled back, "but let's talk more on the roof. After you."  
Dipper opened the latch to the roof and pushed it open, causing it to creak and fall back with a thump. After climbing up, he helped Pacifica up and closed the door. He looked up and saw that most of the rainclouds had cleared, revealing many bright, glorious constellations with an equally radiant moon. The moonlight spread across the mountain range, giving them a clear view of the nocturnal world of Gravity Falls. The view was almost too much to take in; he began losing his balance and staggered a bit, nearly fainting. Pacifica caught him by the arm and steadied him.

"Gorgeous, isn't it?" Pacifica asked rhetorically. "Come on, let's find a place to sit."

"Aren't you worried about getting wet?"

"You know what?" she responded, shrugging her shoulders, "I would be, but I've already been through mud tonight. I think I can handle some rain water." She sat down, and her face grimaced, "Okay, that's colder than I thought."

"You won't have to suffer alone," Dipper said and sat down next to her. The two of them looked across the sky and wondered how many constellations were visible this time of year. They gazed across the blackness and twinkling for several minutes, both wondering what the other was thinking, the horrific events that had taken place tonight, and what to say next after all the drastic changes the night had brought them, both internally and externally. Pacifica was wondering what tomorrow would be like and what punishment her parents had in store for her, and the thought gave her the same awful sinking feeling in her gut she normally felt when she would hear that awful bell ringing. Dipper's thoughts were on what McGucket was trying to say to him and the fact that he regretted brushing him off.

Pacifica broke the silence.

"Dipper," she began, "I wanted to start by saying that I'm sorry for all the awful things I said to you and your sister. They were completely uncalled for."

"And I'm sorry, too," Dipper said, "for misjudging you and calling you the worst. I guess it didn't occur to me that the reason you were the way you were was because of your parents putting so much pressure on you. What was with that bell your dad was ringing?"

"Please, don't ask," Pacifica said, wincing from the same pain in her gut, "And you don't have to apologize; I want to do the mature thing and not make any excuses for what I said and did, something I don't think my parents can do. To be honest, I don't think I've had any real friends, at least not ones attracted to the fact that I had money or that I was a local celebrity. There was a part of me that was jealous of how close you and your family were, and Mabel did it without any sense of refinement or sensibility. You just accepted her."

"With Mabel, you kind of have to go with the flow," Dipper said.

"Yeah," Pacifica continued in a sullen voice, scrunching her knees up to her chin and wrapping her arms around them, "And I've never been very good at that. With the constant pressure of my parents for status and success, I've had to stick to a constant organized structure in order to feel like I fit in. Little did I realize that with it can come superficiality and artificiality."

"To be honest, I'm kind of the same way," Dipper said, "I'm constantly organizing check lists and plans, which leads me to over-thinking even some of the simplest tasks. I had a crush on this girl and spent an entire night planning some stupid checklist in order to ask her to dance."

"Is that the lumberjack chick that works at your shack?" Pacifica asked, raising an eyebrow, "She's kind of old for you, you know."

"Yeah," Dipper said nervously, "She and I already had the talk about that."

"Hmm," she said, a smile returning to her face, "I think you need to date someone closer to your age. Someone you can relate to. Take it from a girl you can actually talk to."

"I don't know," Dipper said, nervously, "I don't even know if I'm old enough to officially date yet...but that really doesn't stop me from liking girls, I guess. I kinda noticed it started happening to me this summer. Mabel went boy crazy a year or so ago."

"I'm glad you're able to talk about it with me at least," Pacifica continued the train of thought, "I've always had a tough time talking about it, too, believe it or not. It's not an easy subject." There was an awkward pause between them. "But, I'm at least glad you came here tonight, despite the bad circumstances." She subtly scooted closer to him, hoping he wouldn't notice or mind.

"Me too," Dipper said, "Some good came out of it, at least. Otherwise, I don't think you or I would have gotten to know each other. To think, I was about to watch a marathon of Ghost Harassers."

"Ha," Pacifica laughed, shifting to pat a hand on his shoulder, "Lame! All those guys do is yell at air and see if it makes a sound back at them. Come on, now. You and your sister are the real paranormal hunters. You bust monsters all the time and don't even break a sweat doing it."

"It can be entertaining to watch the amateurs," Dipper replied. With that, they both laughed together. She fell over and hugged him, causing him to tense up.

"Thank you," Pacifica said, her head still on his shoulder.

"For what?"

"Believing in me," she responded, still not letting go. He pulled her off of him for a moment.

"You're the one who did all of that yourself," he said, "You overcame your oppressive parents, stood up to the very embodiment of what was cursing your family's name, and saved us all. I think you're the real hero of the night."

"Yeah," she said, "but I think I just needed a little push." She looked out at the stars again, leaning on his other shoulder. "I wonder if we can see the Big Dipper from here. I'm guessing that's how you got your name."

"Actually," he said with some hesitation, "it's because of a birthmark...on my forehead."

"So you're like Harry Potter?" She said, laughing and rolling her eyes, "Come on, show me."

Dipper pressed his bangs down to cover he forehead and said, "No!" Pacifica shook her head, and the two went back to the way they were. Dipper's mind went back to what McGucket was saying. Could the end be a few days from now? Could it be tomorrow?

"What's wrong?" Pacifica asked, looking up and seeing Dipper's face as his mind drifted off. He didn't want to tell her. He didn't want her to worry if she believed him or to sound crazy to her if she didn't. But she continued on. "Okay, I gotta say this: one of the new vows that I'm making to myself and to you and your sister is that you're no longer going to have to worry about any lies or secrets from me. I will be completely transparent with both of you. But what I ask, if we're going to be friends, is that you do the same for me. Now, tell me what's wrong."

Dipper looked her in the eyes. She was pretty intent on hearing what was on his mind, and there seemed to be almost this sense of dread behind her eyes, like everything she thought she had gained tonight was riding on his response.

"You know McGucket, right?"

"That weird smelly hobo who seems to show up on every street corner?"

"Yes," Dipper said, and now his nervousness was causing his gut to ache, "He has his own wealth of paranormal knowledge, and he was trying to tell me something important downstairs. I just brushed him off because I wanted to have fun and relax. But what he was saying sounded like the end of the world."

"You know what, Dipper?" Pacifica said, with that same snark he had come to expect from her, "He could be absolutely right, and the world could very well end tomorrow. But what can anyone of us do about it right now? We're only human. I've already been through an emotional roller coaster tonight, so hearing about the end of the world isn't phasing me. Even if this small speck of dust that's floating through the vast Milky Way does explode tomorrow, I want to go out knowing I had a good night with you. And I'd like to go out doing this." With that she kissed him; it was short, but it was enough to give Dipper a jolt.

"You can come out now, Mabel," Pacifica shouted, "I hope you were entertained." Dipper was still in shock and had nothing to say.

"Aww, but it's so much more fun to spy and squee from the shadows," Mabel sighed, poking her head up from the trap door. She then burst up onto the roof and wrapped her arms around both of their necks. "Are you two and Grendius going to have to have a double wedding now?"

"It's too early to say that, Mabel," Dipper said with what little breath he could muster.

"Lets start with the three of us having a rematch at mini-golf and go from there, hopefully without the stupid golf ball people," Pacifica said, pushing her way out of the headlock. She then backed up, composed herself a bit, and took both of Mabel's hands. "And Mabel, I'm very sorry for all the awful things I said. I really do admire your carefree life; I just had to lash out at it since I couldn't have it for myself."

"Aww," Mabel belted out, "but you CAN have it. You just have to become one with the awesome power of Silly."

"Like this?" Pacifica asked. She then leaned in, licked the back of Mabel's hand, pulled a sticker seemingly out of nowhere that had a cartoon lizard with a poorly drawn crown that read 'I am the lizard king. I can do anything.' across it, and stuck it on the now sticky hand.

Mabel paused for a moment to think until finally saying, "It's a start."  
When it was time for the party to end and the Pines family to head home, Pacifica gave Dipper a kiss on his forehead and told him his birthmark was cute. On the drive home in Stan's car, Mabel took the sticker off her hand and placed it in a page of her scrapbook. It was the perfect piece of memorabilia she could have gotten from the Northwest girl she had been rivals with until recently. (Could they still carry on a friendly rivalry?) Dipper took out the toy llama from his pocket and thought of the wonderful young lady he had until recently thought was the worst. He could not wait to see her again and thought of the next time they would meet. Of course, his brain, which always had the tendency to over-think things, made him realize that once the summer was over and autumn closed in, he would have to go back home, and the two of them would have to only speak online. That is, as long as the world didn't end tomorrow.

Pacifica, while prepared for the worst from her parents, only had one day of being banished to her room. She thought this might be because she had also saved the lives of her dad's billionaire friends and because one of the townspeople shared a mutual interest in his favorite show, Firefly; there was something about its main character that captured her father. Either way, this was thankfully a better fate than what she expected, and she took it as a victory. After getting ready for bed, she decided she would do her best to dream of Dipper as some knight that would rescue her from the castle in which she was imprisoned, only to save him from some windigo.

Unfortunately for her, this would not be the case.

When Pacifica opened her eyes, she found herself in a large room with red curtains hanging from each wall. The floor looked to be made of some hard tile with a black and white zig-zag striped pattern. She was sitting on a cushioned chair with two other chairs to her left turned at 90 degree angles so as their occupants could speak to her, one of which was an old little man, while the other was a gorgeous blonde woman with a haunting emotionless face.

"Pacifica," the man said, although his voice sounded like a recording played in reverse, "Bill has welcomed you to the Black Lodge."

"Hello, Pacifica," the woman said, the same reverse effect present in her speech as well, "You are out of place here." She pointed at her, and with that, Pacifica had this feeling of dread worse than she had that night with the lumberjack ghost. There was something very wrong with this woman. "Sometimes, my arms bend back."

"Where," Pacifica stammered, her voice thankfully sounding normal, "or what is this place?"

"Fire walk with me," the man said. Upon uttering that phrase, Pacifica could hear some slow beat jazz music, like one would expect from a film noir. The man got up from his chair and began to dance, off in his own world. The woman still stared at Pacifica, not blinking or breaking her gaze.

"I was once like you," the woman said, "You need to listen to this. It is about your friends. I will return in two years. Meanwhile..." Her voice trailed off as she held her arms upward, as if displaying some object or meaning.

An old woman in black, accompanied by a small boy with a paper mache mask with a long nose entered from the curtains, pushing what looked like a hospital medicine tray, but instead of medical equipment, there was an old cassette player. Something told her to push play. She did, and the light in the room seemed to dissipate, only to be replaced with low strobe lights. The old woman and the boy had both disappeared back into the curtains. With the lights down, it gave her an even more eerie feeling, contorting the curtains into odd shapes, including one that looked like a misshapen face that stared at her the same way the blonde woman continued to stare, still never blinking. Without the light, she could only see the contours of her face and hair. Pacifica thought she could hear two voices echoing from every end of the curtains, one a deep male voice that was violently chanting something in a language she did not recognize, the other a light woman's voice that seemed to be giggling at first and then breaking out into hysterical laughter.

The recording began to play. It sounded like a man's voice she recognized, but he was shouting as if to be heard over the sounds of the chanting and the laughter.

"HI PACIFICA," he said, "WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU TODAY?"

"For starters," she said to the recording sarcastically, "you can tell me what is going on and get me out of here."

There was a long pause in the recording, while the voices went on and on, the blonde woman still staring, peering into Pacifica's soul.

"I HATE TO SAY IT, PACIFICA," he said, "BUT YOUR FRIENDS' GREAT UNCLE IS IN A LOT OF TROUBLE. IT SEEMS HE STOLE SOME GOVERNMENT CHEMICALS!"

"What?" Pacifica exclaimed in shock. There was another pause, the voices seeming to get louder, along with them seemed to grow some other strange din.

"STINGER MISSILES?" the recording seemed to ask, "HOW MUCH FIRE POWER DO YOU THINK I HAVE? YOU'VE SEEN TOO MANY MOVIES, KID!"

With that the tape stopped, she could finally make out the other sound to be moaning and screaming children. It was almost deafening. And as the chants, laughter, and screams escalated. The blonde woman began to violently stand up and move toward Pacifica, wailing horribly.

And with that, the lights returned, the blonde woman was gone, and the little man was standing in the middle of the room, looking at something across from him. Pacifica turned to see what it was and was shocked to find her father floating in the air, along with some strange yellow triangle creature with an eye in its center and small black stick arms and legs, likewise floating next to him. It wore a top hat as well. It would have otherwise reminded her of some 1930's cartoon character, but in this light and next to her father, it's form reminded her of the bell she had come to dread.

"Bill," the little man said, speaking to the triangle. So this was the Bill he had referenced earlier. "I want all of your Garmonbozia." Pacifica knew the word to represent pain and sorrow, but she had no idea how she understood it. It was as if the concept was injected into her subconscious.

The lights went out again, and a wave of panic washed over Pacifica. The "Bill" creature's eye began to glow red, and its body began to increase in size to the point of filling itself from floor to ceiling. It grew a mouth full of jagged, needle-like teeth and began vomiting something that looked like cream corn at first, but as the creature vomited further, it began to turn red and then black, flooding the floor.

Pacifica screamed and ran, darting between the curtains to escape. She found herself in another hall, also filled with red curtains and what looked like Greek marble statues. She found another opening in the curtains and ran through it, only to see another curtain filled hallway. It seemed as if it would never end.

Finally, she saw something at the end of another hall. It was a man wearing jeans and a matching denim jacket. His long, scraggly, gray hair curtained his evil grinning face. He stood up, staring at her through the darkened curtained hallway. After what seemed like forever, he began screaming and sprinted towards her, eyes locked onto her.

Pacifica woke up in a cold sweat. Her mind fell back into place as she realized it was all a dream. The sun streamed through the window, throwing itself across her white desk and the violet carpet. She rubbed her face for a moment, happy to have left whatever world that was. She know, however, what she had to do: research whatever she could in order to stay up to date with what she felt was about to happen.

She dressed and readied herself for the day, sitting at her desk with the laptop opened. She would first search for terms relating to what she had seen in her dreams. She found that the Black Lodge related to the Native American folklore in Washington state, specifically near a town called Twin Peaks. There were spirits that would roam throughout it and would feed on the pain and sorrow of others; it was also a place that the dead would pass through and confront their evil doppelgangers in order to reach spiritual perfection in the White Lodge, which some might refer to as Heaven. She looked into the town's history a little further and found that there was a particular bizarre set of events that occurred in 1990, specifically around the death of Laura Palmer, whose picture looked exactly like the blonde woman from her dreams. The woman's words echoed back to her as she looked at the image.

Pacifica felt a chill down her spine and closed the browser window.

She took a deep breath and reopened her browser, deciding to look at other paranormal phenomena through the west coast of the country. She found a site called the Swollen Eyeball with a blog from a user named Mothman; he went on forever about how he had personally overthrew an alien invasion within his hometown ten years ago. The guy sounded well beyond crazy, so she moved on. She also found an article on a paranormal duo called the Winchester Brothers, who users stated always carried a journal full of information about monsters they believed were plaguing various unsolved cases. She wondered if it was in any way related to Dipper's journal. She also saw something even weirder regarding two desert towns, Night Vale and Desert Bluffs. They seemed to exist within some dimensional loop; maps could not place where they were, satellite cameras blurred their images, and those who did locate the towns would either disappear or come back with some strange stories.

After searching the Internet for hours, something she never thought she would do, a butler brought her some lunch. She asked him his name, thanked him, and gave him as generous a tip as her allowance would let her. Having done this, there was this odd feeling she had wash over her; it was a novel feeling, giving generously. While it may not have been her style before last night, she was glad she gave it a test run.

After eating, she decided to look in on Dipper to see how he was. Her family had bought their own remote service for government satellites, so she decided to take advantage of one of them check in on him.

Okay, she thought, this is a little intrusive. But she wanted to make sure he was okay after last night; that old man's talk about the end of the world was clearly bothering him, and the more she thought about it, the more it bothered her.

What she found, however, was even more upsetting, as she saw that a horde of FBI cars had surrounded the cabin. Finding this unnerving, she zoomed in further to see that Stan was in handcuffs and being put into a car. She panned the camera over to see Dipper and Mabel getting into another car.

This sight upset her so much that she called a "family friend" in the FBI to see if there was anything that could be done. She dialed the number, that nervous feeling growing in her gut again, And waited for the dial tone to end.

"Hi Gordon," she said.

"HI PACIFICA," FBI director Gordon Cole said, "WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU TODAY?" He was hard of hearing and needed to shout in order to hear himself talk.

"This is kind of urgent," Pacifica continued, some frustration in her voice, "I need you to see what you can do to call off your dogs on the family of Dipper Pines. Whatever they did, I'm sure he and his family had good reason."

"I HATE TO SAY IT, PACIFICA," he said, "BUT YOUR FRIENDS' GREAT UNCLE IS IN A LOT OF TROUBLE. IT SEEMS HE STOLE SOME GOVERNMENT CHEMICALS!"

"What?" she asked, not believing what she was hearing. She would sort this out later, but right now, she would have to try and help the Pines family in whatever way she could. "How many zeros on a check would it take to get you to leave them alone?"  
"I'M SORRY, SWEETHEART," Gordon said, "BUT YOUR ALLOWANCE DOESN'T COVER WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO BRIBE THESE GUYS OR ME!"

"Then if you're not going to help me help them," she said, "At least get some stinger missiles ready. Something terrible is about to happen, I just know it. My guess is that it's going to be nothing like some stupid Godzilla movie. Something much worse..."

"STINGER MISSILES?" Gordon exclaimed, "HOW MUCH FIRE POWER DO YOU THINK I HAVE? YOU'VE SEEN TOO MANY MOVIES, KID!"

"Whatever, old man," she yelled. She finally caught her breath, thought for a moment, and continued. "If your hands are tied, your hands are tied. I understand. I'm just very concerned about them and think they know more about a coming disaster than even our own government does. Thank you for your time. Goodbye Gordon."

"NICE TALKIN' TO YA! BYE!"

No sooner did she hang up then she noticed on the screen that the FBI car containing Dipper and Mabel had crashed. Dipper looked like he had brief conversation with the now trapped driver before running off through the woods back to the direction of the Mystery Shack. He looked sad, but at least he and Mabel looked to be okay.

"Run," she said, "Run, you clever boy." Her anxiousness, however, was not dying down anytime soon. She paced the room several times before looking out the window. In a nearby tree was a bird, which seemed to look back into the window at her before flying off. She needed to be free. She needed to get out of her cage and fly.

She tied several articles of clothing into a rope, opened the window, and did the cliched thing of escaping through said window. What she did not anticipate was, when she was halfway down the wall of the mansion, her feet seemed to lose their grip, as did everything else around her. For several minutes, she felt lighter than air, floating off the wall above the ground.

"Can this day get any weirder?" she asked rhetorically as she watched various servants and one of the family cars begin the lift off the ground. The clothing rope floated off the table from which it was tied and began floating out the window as well. Pacifica knew she would have nothing to hold onto and tried to push herself back through the air towards the house.

No sooner did she try this then gravity returned. She panicked as she began plummeting to the earth. Fortunately, she was able to grab hold of the lower windowsill before she hit the ground. Her arms felt like they were on fire from the pull, but at least she didn't hit the ground. Mustering the rest of her courage, she climbed down the side of the mansion slowly and hid in the bushes, only to see her parents at the front door.

"What happened, dear?" Preston said to Mrs. Northwest, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Preston," she responded, "Whatever that was, I'm sure Pacifica's little Pines friends had something to do with it. I swear, she is never seeing them again, especially if they cause this much chaos."

"Now, now, dear," Preston said, "There's no need to worry about her. She is still in her room, now come. We need to take shelter in case this happens again." With that, they departed into the house.

"Oh, mom," Pacifica said under her breath with a tone of animosity, "is your first thought really to point the finger at them for all the weirdness this town has always had? No, they're not part of the problem; they're part of the solution." Pacifica then snuck around the bushes and through the front gate, ready to head to the Mystery Shack and help her new friends in whatever way she could. Who knew? Maybe they'd let her be the Daphne of their little Scooby Mystery Gang. And when this was all over, she wanted to believe that she could settle her golf score with Mabel and go on a first date with Dipper. It might have been an unrealistic thought, but it was one to where she could retreat, and that hope kept her going.


	2. Sunrise After the Storm

**UPDATE: I had written this particular chapter before it was revealed that the author was Ford and the Mystery Shack owner was Stanley. See Chapter 4 for how I corrected my mistake.**

"The clock strikes twelve and moondrops burst/Out at you from their hiding place/Miss Carrie nurse and Suzy dear/Would find themselves at the four winds bar/It's the nexus of the crisis/The origin of storms/Just the place to hopelessly/Encounter time and then came me." – Blue Oyster Cult, "Astronomy"

Night had fallen, and the stars had now littered the night sky. Exhausted, Pacifica propped herself against a tree and sat near one of its root. Looking through the blackness of the woods, she felt that she was in that half fugue state in between the waking world and the dream world. She generally felt this way when doing a late night homework assignment and would look out the window only to see one of the many strange creatures that roamed the town and would then question whether or not she had actually seen it the next morning, face down on her paper, breathing in the graphite from the pencil marks.

This evening's imagery consisted of the swaying bushes, the twitching branches of the trees above, and sudden darting movement of various small nocturnal creatures. It was like looking at some sort of living Gustave Doré painting. She looked down and noticed an odd sight, a small black turtle crawling along her hand. She shook it off of her and turned her attention back to the woods. Through the darkness, she could see what looked like two glowing white orbs moving through the blackness. Squinting, she could see that they were attached to what looked like a humanoid head with deer antlers.

In looking at the thing, her muscles tensed, and her blood froze in her veins. The creature then stood in the small alcove between the trees, roughly fifty yards from her, shifted in place, and looked directly into her eyes. She could see a slight color change in the eyes now, an off putting, cold blue iris with a menacing red pupil. There were words that seemed to ring through her now hindered, exhausted mind, saying, "I SEE YOU!" repeatedly. She did not shriek, but the snowy owl on the branch above shrieked for her, as it flew from its perch to go find a hapless, defenseless mouse that was no doubt crawling through the underbrush. After looking up to see the bird's flight, she turned her attention back to the grove, only to find the creature had gone. Did she imagine it?

What she didn't imagine was the fact that her cell phone was ringing, a trite Sev'ral Timez song playing from it. She looked at the screen, and her heart froze for the second time this evening when she saw that it was her mother calling. Whether it was by instinct or by the desire to hear a familiar voice, even a hostile one, she answered the call.

"Hello, mother," Pacifica answered, an obvious nervousness and irritation in her voice.

"Pacifica," her mother answered, crossly, "Where the hell are you? Your father and I have looked all over the mansion for you when we didn't find you in your room."

"Mom," Pacifica continued, finding a renewed resolve in her voice, "I'm going to need you to hear me out on this one. I...I'm going to the Pines house, and I may need to stay there for a little while."

"Ha, I knew it," her mother said, "It's bad enough that they had to enter our home, bad mouth our name, and not fix the problem we requested of them, but now they have you running around in the pitch black of night to go try and join their weird little group."

"This is important," Pacifica said, "They still may need my help. Something terrible is happening in this town, something far worse than any of the other oddities we've seen. Dipper has a lot of the backstory on this; he'll know-"

"Are you doing this for that boy?" Her mom inquired, raising her voice, "I don't think you realize yet how stupid that is yet. You're twelve, so let me give you some early advice, my dearest daughter. Do NOT throw your world, your family, or your whole life away over some silly boy who hasn't even discovered who he is or what direction he's going to take. If you retain nothing else – if you choose to tune out all the other things your father and I have said over the past few days – please remember that much. Is this boy really worth running away from home? Are you really going through all this foolishness for him?"

"No!" Pacifica exclaimed, terminating her mother's rambling, "No, I'm not doing it for him. Okay, yes, I think I like Dipper. He's cute, he's funny, he's very smart...And it took me a few months to see all of that in him..." she trailed off for a moment, but then caught herself and continued. "But that has nothing to do with why I'm doing this. Something big and terrible is about to happen to this town. You saw and felt it yourself a few hours ago when we lost our gravitational pull. And I feel, as a person of this earth, that I want to help fight it in whatever way I can. The reason I'm joining them is because they seem like the only ones who might have some answers as to how to stop it."

She paused to catch her breath. Her mother didn't respond.

"And think about it like this," Pacifica continued, "What I said last night, that our family name is broken and that I would fix it? I meant that. It's no secret that the public knows we have some skeletons in our closet, while not knowing specifically what. And since those red hooded guys disappeared, the paranormal weirdness of this town has become public knowledge as well. If they hear that a Northwest helped prevent this disaster, it could pull our name out of the mud. If I'm wrong, I'll take whatever punishment you and dad give me like the dutiful daughter I've always been, that is, if we all don't blow up from whatever this is. But if I'm right, and we're able to stop it, ours will be the first generation of Northwests to contribute something amazing to the public, the saving of the entire world. That's PR even our harshest critics can't combat. I saved dad's billionaire friends from a 150 year old curse. I imagine I can help take down some even greater monsters with the help of some experts."

Mrs. Northwest was dumbfounded, both with how unusual Pacifica's story was and with the fact that her twelve-year-old could talk like this. None of it seemed natural. But at that point, she turned her head to the ancient tapestry in the dining hall in which she was standing, mostly to monitor the clean up crew and make sure none of the "riffraff" had left a single token of their visit. She saw the triangle at the top of the flames, recognizing the piece as some archaic folklore regarding the all seeing evil spirit of the woods that promised to bring suffering and destruction to those who crossed him. She looked at the creature's eye, and for a moment, she thought it looked back at her. She did not turn away but chose to stare at it longer, perhaps recognizing that there may have been a part of it inside of her, a part she was afraid to admit was real and that she was unleashing on her child, the baby she had nursed, the little girl that ran through the empty halls looking for a playmate, the young lady whom they used Pavlov's method to control...treating her like a show dog, a status symbol, another doll they could display to the world.

The flames within the tapestry began to move, the human effigies began to writhe, and the eye winked.

Mrs. Northwest shook her head, and the vision faded. Then, she said something Pacifica thought she would never hear from her.

"I'm sorry, Pacifica," her mother said at long last, "Maybe it is time for us to begin trusting you. After all, you're our daughter; you must have a good head on your shoulders. Just...please stay safe. It may not seem like it, but I really do worry about your safety. I can't believe I'm even allowing this." She groaned, but she knew that if she said no at this point, it would only add fuel to the fire, causing her daughter to hang up and then having to needlessly spend valuable man hours to track her down. At least she knew where she was, despite it being a complete dump she would never have allowed otherwise. "I'll tell your father that you're with some of your other friends, as I doubt he'd listen to either of us."

"Thanks, mom," Pacifica said.

"And daughter," Mrs. Northwest continued, "Let me remind you again. You're a Northwest; don't fail or make me regret going along with this. You survive whatever this is, and you have my word that I'll personally invite your new friends to dinner. Now, how far are you from their house. I want to make sure you're safe this evening."

"About half a mile," Pacifica said, "It's dark, but I still know the way."

"Very well," Mrs. Northwest concluded, "Goodnight, dear."

"Goodnight, mom," Pacifica said, ending the call.

Pacifica looked back down at her phone and opened the pictures application. She looked through photos from last night, of her and her new friends actually enjoying each others company for a change. She shook her head, wishing she had never been so mean and terrible to them. They might not have been as refined as she was, but they were fun, carefree, and genuine.

They were real.

She looked up, let her eyes readjust to the darkness, and continued forward. She felt a cold breeze in the air and shivered. Despite it being the middle of summer, the night seemed cooler than usual. There was a storm coming.

It was over an hour before she found the shack, but to her shock, it was not as she expected. The base of the property looks like it had sunk two feet into the ground, the wooden porch looked unhinged and disjointed, and the second half of the sign had cracked in half. Even the totem pole near the front of the house was now slightly off center, at roughly a 75 degree angle. This must have been due to the gravity loss, she thought, hoping everyone was alright. There seemed to be this strange blue glow that emanated from each of the windows, giving her that all too familiar feeling of unease. All the while, she could hear a faint sobbing. She looked at the porch and saw that it was Dipper making those sounds. The wind began to blow harder.

There was almost an ethereal quality to it; between the eerie light, the cold breeze, and Dipper's anguish, it was like something from David Lynch's nightmares. The old Bobby Vinton song "Blue Velvet" rang in her head briefly.

She slowly walked up to the ruined porch, where Dipper was sitting on the stairs, sobbing into his arms. Not knowing what to say, she broke the silence with a soft, concerned voice, saying, "Dipper? Are you okay?" What was this feeling of empathy? It felt novel to her, but she couldn't help it around him.

"Pacifica, what are you doing here?" Dipper said, wiping his eyes as quickly as possible. A wave of panic washed over him, as he certainly did not want her to see him like this. For all intents and purposes, she was a new lady that had graced his life, and he did not want to show her his moment of weakness.

"I came to help," she said, "in whatever way I can. It seems like you need some right now. Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

"He lied to me," Dipper said, his words seeming to echo from last night when he had said that to Pacifica.

She caught herself from the strangeness and agitation of deja vu and replied, "Who?"

"Stan," he answered, "if we can even call him that anymore. He had the other journals the whole time, knew the author, and lied to us about what he was building in the basement."

"What was it?" Pacifica asked.

"A dimensional portal to bring back his brother," Dipper replied, "And as to why he couldn't just tell us about this in the first place, I have no idea. I could say I feel used and betrayed, but that's only scraping the tip of the iceberg."

"But if he wrote your weird books," Pacifica asked, "doesn't that mean that he's on your side, that he's trying to help you defend yourself from more paranormal junk?"

"I don't know," Dipper answered, "One of the first principles I carried with me was what the third journal said, 'Trust no one!' And after what Gruncle Stan pulled tonight, I'm realizing that I've been doing too much trusting." He buried his head in his arms again. "But I feel like if I begin distancing myself from him, I'll distance myself from Mabel, too. She trusted him as well and let the portal's timer finish. She just seems all too comfortable with this new stranger in our house. A few weeks ago, I would have had ten thousand questions for him. Now...I just don't know..." He trailed off and grew quiet.

Pacifica came up the stairs and sat beside him. She wrapped his arms around him and began rocking him back and forth. Dipper felt both a rush of nervousness and excitement as Pacifica had once again gotten close to him. Maybe last night wasn't a fluke and girls really did like him after all. And he did think Pacifica was cute, so the anxiousness wasn't going away anytime soon. What if he said the wrong thing or she grew tired of him or didn't like the way he breathed after she got to know him? All these "what ifs" swirled through his head, but at the same time, he didn't want her to let go and was enjoying the moment despite his current situation. The steady rocking of her arms gave him a comfort he had not felt in a long time.

"Then there's a pair of us," she said, "After last night, discovering how awful my family has been, I feel very distant from them. My mom might be able to see reason, but for the most part, I don't feel like I belong anymore. So, Dipper, you're not alone. You still have me, and as I said last night, you'll get no more lies from me."

As she continued to rock him for several more minutes, Mabel walked out of the screen door and saw the two of them. Pacifica looked up at her, still holding Dipper, and gave her a look of loss and confusion, as if to say that she needed her help. For the first time in a very long time, Mabel did not know what to say. She sat down beside them and began rubbing her sobbing brother's shoulder, wishing she could do more for him.

The wind continued to pick up, as well as a slight drizzle of rain. Pacifica though she could see someone off in the distance, standing between the trees. She squinted but couldn't quite make out what it was. Could it have been that same thing she had seen earlier that evening?

"Woohoo," Nate shouted as an engine roared up to the shack, "Gravity Falls is losin' gravity! The end of the world is near!"

"Can't believe we get to see it," Lee joked as the car stopped, "We made it, Wendy."

"Great," Wendy said, getting out along with the rest of her friends, "We've got to make sure my work family is okay." She wandered over to the porch, Robbie, Tambry, Lee, and Nate following closely behind while Thompson locked the car. Mabel and Pacifica looked up at her. "Okay, mind filling me in on what happened," Wendy asked, "why the sour faces, and what the hell happened to Dipper?"

Just then, Soos emerged from the doorway.

"Wendy," he said, "You're here; great. There are two Stans now, and..." He looked down at the kids sitting on the porch and saw the proverbial aura of unhappiness around them. "Maybe we should give the kids a moment to recover."

"Soos," Mabel broke the silence, "please come sit with us; it would make us feel better. It would at least make me feel better knowing that everyone is here."

"Okay, guys," Wendy shouted in an almost den mother quality voice, "Everyone on the porch. Dr. Funtimes needs our good vibes." So everyone gathered on the small, crowed porch and watched the rain pick up. There were jokes shouted, laughter, and the ever present hum of the ice machine behind them, among the pattering of rain. Wendy sat next to Pacifica, who was still clutching a now exhausted Dipper despite how much her arms began to hurt. She leaned closer to Pacifica.

"Hey," Wendy whispered, "You know you can let go of him, right? It looks like he fell asleep on you." Pacifica looked down and saw that Dipper had fallen asleep. She laid him down on the top step, took her jacket off, folded it, and put it under his head as a pillow. "He's a good guy, albeit one that overthinks things. Just be careful with him; he's obviously been through a lot. And don't get so hung up on him, or any guy for that matter; it ain't healthy for you." Pacifica didn't know what to say to Wendy, or how to even remotely approach her, beyond giving her an understanding smile. Wendy was yet another carefree spirit Pacifica could not help but envy. There was also something inspirational about her.

After a few jokes, Mabel's spirit finally picked back up.

"Alright, everyone!" she shouted, "We're watching the sunrise! It's only a few minutes away." So everyone stayed a little longer to watch what both Dipper and Pacifica thought might be the final sunrise. While they looked out over the now clear skies, waiting for the world to end, the original mystery twins, the two Stans, came from the door. Stanford pulled out two rocking chairs onto the porch behind the kids, while Stanley brought the journals and his laser rifle. The two sat in silence while the kids continued to joke around, Stanley polishing his rifle like an old frontiersman preparing for a hunt. It reminded them of when they were kids on their old swing set, watching the sun rise over the waters.

When the sun finally rose, they realized something Stanley already knew, that the world was not about to end now and that the nexus of the crisis lay elsewhere. Off in the distance, something captured the group's attention. A small person was now moving out of the forest towards the cabin.

"Who is that?" asked Lee.

"Oh, no," said Mabel, "it couldn't be."

"Gideon?" Dipper asked rhetorically, fully waking up.

"That weird charlatan psychic kid on TV?" Pacifica asked, "What's wrong with his eyes?"

As he drew closer, the group started up from their places in horror, as they could see that his eyes had rolled back in his head and that he was hovering three feet off the ground and had been the moment they had seen him. What mainly disturbed the teens was that they had thought they had seen him there when they first arrived, meaning his dead, lifeless eyes had been watching them through the night.


	3. Mystery Shack Attack

Stanley rose from his chair, readied his rifle, and aimed it above the kids' heads towards the entity that used to be Gideon. He had many a hesitation in firing on a child, but he couldn't be sure whether or not it was still a child or what it would do to him, his family, or their house. He did, however, have a feeling of who was behind all of this, and when the creature spoke, it confirmed his suspicions.

"Hello, Pine Trees!" the voice in which Dipper clearly recognized as Bill Cypher spoke through Gideon's quivering bluish lips before revealing his true form by floating out of Gideon's forehead. "I told you I'd be back. And look, I found myself a new puppet, although it's not as good as you!"

"Bill," Dipper said, "I knew it was just a matter of time before you'd rear your ugly Dorito head again." Pacifica recognized the name from her nightmare, and the thought gave her a chill. Dipper continued to speak to the thing. "What are you planning? What are you hoping to gain from all of this?"

"I'm glad you all came to this spot," Bill said, "What a coincidence that all of you are here! See, I need you for a ritual in order to..."

"To make us all your zombie slaves?" Mabel asked.

"To put yourself in a bowl with salsa or ranch dressing?" Wendy asked sarcastically.

"To spout dumb exposition?" Pacifica asked, equally sarcastic.

"No! No! No!" Bill said, "Well, yes, that last one is true. But, more than that, I need to open a portal of my own, and my means of doing it is right underneath your shack!"

"What makes you think we're letting you in here?" Stanley asked in a gruff voice, gun still at the ready.

"Well, gee, I dunno! Maybe this..." Bill replied. And with that, he flew back into Gideon's body and began launching ghastly unnatural yellow lasers from his fingertips. The group scattered in different directions, leaving burned holes in the wooden porch. Lee, Nate, Tambry, and Thompson all headed back to the van, while the rest of the group headed for the door of the shack, seeking protection.

Now, Stanley had no choice.

He fired several red laser beams at Gideon, only to find that each beam seemed to ricochet off some invisible force surrounding him. He threw the rifle over his shoulder again and shouted, "Retreat!" His brother picked up the journals next to him and ran towards the shack door with him.

Just then, another wave of Gideon's blasts came flying towards them, this time heading straight towards Dipper as he was likewise headed inside the shack. He turned around to see the blast headed his way and immediately thought, "So this is where it ends? All my searching for answers ending in a ball of hot death?"

Pacifica, however, was quick to act. She grabbed her jacked from off the porch and pulled out a silver mirror from the pocket. (It only made sense to carry one after last night) She held it up to the blast, deflecting it and obliterating a nearby tree. Both of them could swear that they heard a combination of screams, moans, and whispers when it collided with the mirror. Nevertheless, the moment reminded her of last night when he had saved her from the rampaging ghost; she was more than happy to return the favor. She looked over her shoulder at him, smiled, and gave him a wink. He returned the smile, took her by the hand, and ran with her through the door while everyone crowded inward.

Once the group was inside, Wendy held the door behind them and shouted towards the van.

"Get out of here!" She yelled.

"What about you?" Thompson yelled back to her.

"We'll be fine, just go!" She replied as another one of Gideon's blasts hit the door, causing it to splinter and sending Wendy flying to the ground. Mabel and Robbie helped her to her feet.

"I knew you guys dealt with a lot of weird crap," Robbie said, "but this has to be among the worst."

"Be glad you missed that computer game girl attack, dude," Soos said.

"Oh, trust me," Robbie said, "I think I have some idea what that might have been like."

"Gruncle Stan," Mabel said, not sure which of the Stans to address, "Bill mentioned a portal underneath the shack. Should we go down to the basement and guard what's left of your machine?"

The two Stans looked at each other and said in unison, "Yes!"

"Or destroy the thing entirely," Dipper said under his breath, animosity in his tone.

The group quickly headed through the living room and then through the door behind the vending machine. Stanford shut the door behind them after he saw Gideon float through the living room closely behind them. They then proceeded down the stairs and crammed into the elevator, all of them still distressed from running away from some extra-planar being to not care that they were so jam packed together.

Dipper and Stanley were both thinking the same thing of what would happen had Bill reached the machine. They knew the consequences of what could happen if this device fell into the wrong hands and that Bill had to be stopped at any cost.

Pacifica wondered what sort of danger she had just joined. She did also realize there was no running away from it. Even if she had been the dutiful daughter and stayed in the mansion, the problems still would not have left, that eventually dealing with her abusive parents would have been the least of her worries when Bill or whatever his name was eventually began his attack.

Mabel's thoughts, on the other hand, turned to something she noticed that perked her spirits again: Dipper and Pacifica were still holding hands. She wondered if either of them realized this fact.


	4. Dismantling the Portal

**A/N: Yay, another chapter complete! After awhile, I realized that I can't worry so much about keeping consistent with canon, that I really should just have fun with this and not focus so much on getting things "right." That's kind of the joy of fanfiction is creating these alternate realities. My goal in writing is to both entertain others and have fun doing it. It can be hard to find time, balancing work and family, but I do my best.**

**Anyways, new chapter's finished, so I'm going to try this "Five Nights at Freddy's" game again. I have no idea what I'm doing.**

"When I was driving once I saw this painted on a bridge: 'I don't want the world, I just want your half'" – They Might Be Giants, "Ana Ng"

As soon as the elevator landed, the group spilled out onto the floor, like salmon collapsing out of a fisherman's net on the deck of the ship. Everyone began staggering to their feet.

"Ugh, Soos," Wendy said, "When was the last time you bathed?"

"Hey, I'm clean," Soos said, "I took a bath two days ago."

Once everyone had collected themselves from the fall, Mabel had to clear something between the original Mystery Twins.

"So let me get this straight," Mabel began, "Which one of you is which Stan again?"

"Your parents named both of you Stan?" Pacifica asked, genuinely perplexed.

"Pops wasn't the most creative person in the world," Gruncle Stan said, "He thought he was going to have one kid, but then he had two..."

"I'm Stanford," the six-fingered man interjected in order to stay on subject, "He's Stanley, the ass who decided to take my name."

"It was to protect the mystery of the house!" Stanley exclaimed, "I couldn't have the police come and try to explain to them why this was a missing person's case. Plus I kept the roof up with touristy stuff."

"Wait, I thought you said it was the other way around," Mabel responded.

"Well, what do you expect," Stanley said, "Our show went on a mid season hiatus, so fanfiction writers are struggling to keep their facts straight."

"To simplify things," Stanford said, "Go ahead and call me Ford and him Stan; that's how others were able to differentiate us when we were kids."

"And guys," Dipper interrupted, "I'm sorry for overreacting. I'm just tired of being lied to, and last night seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back. But more than anything right now...Gruncle Ford...I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS? SO MANY THINGS I WISH I COULD SAY!"

"All in good time, nephew," Ford said, "We have more pressing matters to address."

"Yeah, like some floating zombie kid with the talking Dorito trying to kill us," Robbie said, "If he's this all powerful being, can't he just teleport down here and kill us?"

"A fair question, young man," For responded, "But I think he needs a physical body in order to fully interact with this world. He's not all powerful, but otherworldly and impossible to predict."

"Then he could be coming down the elevator any minute," Pacifica said, "Isn't there some way to stop it?"

"I'll cut the power if you show me where it is," Wendy said.

"Good thinking, ladies," Ford said, pointing to the circuit breaker to which Wendy and Pacifica ran, "In the meantime, we need to start dismantling the portal."

"I'm all for it," Dipper began, "but do you feel any reservations about having to get rid of it?"

"Yeah," Mabel chimed in, "Wasn't that your life's work? Not to mention Gruncle Stan worked so hard to piece it back together."

"As hard as I worked to create it," Ford said, "I realize now the folly of having opened the floodgate to these monstrosities. While man will continue to innovate, he was not meant to go too far beyond his boundaries. I should have destroyed it the day McGucket came back from the portal. As a scientist, I wonder when we will be ready for the latest innovation. Who will take the first step as our species makes new advancements? All I know is that this was not one I should have made..."

"Ah, enough with the philosophy lecture," Stan said, "Let's get down to business in tearing this thing to shreds."

After Wendy and Pacifica flipped the elevator power switch and dragged a cabinet in front of the elevator doors, the group headed into the next room. Ford handed everyone tools, but it seems Stan had a different idea, in which case he brought out dynamite.

"It's reckless and dangerous," Stan said, "But also easy and fun! Just...stand back after it's lit, kids."

"Is that really necessary?" Ford responded, "Reckless and dangerous are not the type of things I would want from a tool in such close quarters."

"Yeah," Stan said, moping, "you're probably right." With that, the kids set to work. Each one scrambling up to dismantle a certain part or hand each other a tool. It was wonderful getting so see such camaraderie, especially among new friends. Any hostility from either Robbie or Pacifica was now gone, and the refreshing feeling drifted through the air for it. They were now people, each working to the common goal of something that could end their species.

Stan tapped Ford on the back. He had pulled up some chairs and set them in front of the glass of the observation room. In his hands was a bottle of vintage reserve Jameson and two glasses.

"Let the kids have their fun," Stan said, "You and I need a chance to relax and catch up."

"You're trying to keep the roof up," Ford said, "and yet you buy some expensive whiskey?"

"I was saving it for when we saw each other again," Stan responded. Ford had no reply. He simply sat down and let Stan pour a glass for him. He thought about it and realized how exhausted he was. He looked at Stan's pinup girl calendar on the wall in the observation room; it read "July 17th, 2012." This was a new world, one of which had left him behind 30 years ago. He wondered if humans had invented flying cars or if there was any real practicality to such an invention.

"You're really not going to thank me?" Stan asked, taking a sip. Ford looked down into the golden liquid and swished it around before taking a drink. He was quiet for another moment before replying.

"I suppose I should," he finally said, "I never would have returned if you hadn't rebuilt this abomination. But after the kids travel back to California in August, this place is going back into my hands. No more of this tourist trap nonsense. It undercuts real science and preternatural study."

"Seriously?" Stan asked angrily, "After the 30 years of success that I put into this place, you're going to tell me to just stop? No, I'm keeping the shack the way it is. There's no reason you can't do your sciency stuff down here while I give suckers, er, I mean, tourists a fun time."

"Stan," For continued, "This could be dangerous. We'd be putting the tourists at risk."

"You already put the whole town at risk with your portal!" Stan said and paused, letting it sink in, "What difference does it make where you do your experiments? At what cost does your work entail? Distancing yourself from your family and risking the town with portals to Heaven, Hell, and everywhere in between?"

There was another long pause. Ford finished his drink and looked over at Stan. And with an air of zen in his demeanor, he spoke.

"I don't think I need to tell you what you already know about me. As sea turtles know instinctively to crawl to the ocean, so am I drawn to scientific discovery. It's not an easy path. It has alienated me from many of the people in my life, from finding romance, from seeking wealth, and all at the cost of my personal safety. But isn't this what we as a species are meant to do: to make new discoveries about our universe and how it could possibly interact with others? Nothing about the human race is static. That's why we have to keep pressing onward. And there is nothing that you or anyone else can say to keep me from continuing my work, so long as I learn from my mistakes and take new precautions."

"Look," Stan responded, "all I'm saying is that you don't have to keep me or anyone else at arms length anymore. Look at the next generation, literally right in front of us. They're clearly having fun working on one of your projects. Just be careful with what you do all while staying transparent with us. I can already tell Dipper is going to look up to you quite a bit; I can see a lot of you in him, and that's both a good thing and a bad thing."

Ford watched the kids as they disassembled the portal. He noticed the smile on his great nephew's face; he was clearly enjoying working on this, studying each part as he removed it. Pacifica occasionally walked over to Dipper and poked him, breaking his concentration. Not that he minded, as he laughed and poked her back before continuing his work.

"Ha," Ford laughed, "And he does have a lot of friends around him. I'm sure that kid's gonna be alright. That blonde one seems pretty taken with him; since when have smart kids been popular with the girls? You and I had so many problems in that area." The two of them laughed together.

"The world is changing," Stan said, "Some for the better, some for the worse."

Just then, Ford noticed something floating through the air within the center ring of the portal.

"Okay, this side's ready to pull apart," Robbie shouted from the top of the portal.

"Got it, dude," Soos said, and with Mabel and Wendy's help, they began pulling the ring apart.

"WAIT!" Ford shouted and lunged forward, pulling a small round glass container from is jacket. He jumped through the ring, grabbing the floating object within the container, pressed a button on the device, sealing it within. "Thank God you didn't pull those apart just then. We could have had a major disaster on our hands."

"What is it, Gruncle Ford," Dipper asked inquisitively.

"This is an interdemensional rift. As I was fearing, this is the residual of reopening the portal. This thing is highly volatile, and...oh, I wish I could have kept this one a secret. Bottom line: it's extremely dangerous." Dipper was certainly fascinated by it, but Pacifica and Mabel butted past him and gazed into it.

"It's gorgeous," Pacifica said, "I wish I could get one of our seamstresses to turn it into a broach or something."

"Me too!" Mabel exclaimed, "Why do all the pretties things have to be the most fragile."

"Indeed," For continued, "I encountered one of these once on one of my travels to Beach City in the Delmarva Peninsula. I remember it had something to do with rare gems, but that's all I can remember about it beyond that it did quite a bit of damage. The best thing that we can do is try and keep it out of the wrong hands."

"Wrong hands, huh!" came a shout from the observation room. The glass shattered, causing Stan to scramble away from it. Out floated Bill with his zombified Gideon. "I'll be taking that." With that, Bill lifted one of his arms, and the container with the rift floated towards him, allowing him to reach out and grab it. "Thanks, Pines. This might come in handy later."

"We've dismantled the gateway, Bill," Dipper said, "There's no way you're opening the gates to your nightmare worlds."

"Ha," Bill laughed mockingly, "You thought that hunk of junk was what I was talking about upstairs. Oh no, I've got bigger plans than that for all of you."

"What is it about this world that you want, Bill?" Ford asked, "Of all the worlds in the multiverse, you have to terrorize this one."

"That's the keyword, terrorize," Bill said, "You think I really want to just take over this world? This is just a speck of dirt within a much vaster cosmos. What I really enjoy is destroying everyone's lives in the process. Just the very feeling of uplifting them from the certainty and comfort of their existence and destroying their hopes and dreams gives me a satisfaction like you wouldn't believe. And now, come and join me in my world." He then psychically lifted Gideon's arms and shot forth bright yellow missiles into the air. They landed on the ground, causing it to rumble and then burst forth from underneath all those within the room.

Everyone's terrified screams echoed through the chamber, down through the darkness below. Pacifica felt as if she could fall forever, still not seeing the bottom below. Suddenly, there was a sharp pain straight to her forehead, and the world around her grew silent.


	5. More Bad Dreams

**Ugh, why does it take me so long to write roughly 1,000 words? I started this one on Friday, but then had to finish it today. But then of course, I was kind of getting distracted. Family obligations and watching other creepy Disney related things for inspiration pretty much took up my day. I have, however, thought of a way to get these chapters out faster: write for an hour and then publish whatever I have finished in that amount of time. I'll try that next time and see if it's substantial. For this one I threw in even more references to other series; see if you can guess where they're from. With one of them, if you know the story, you might know what's in store next. Whooooo wants to see Pacifica with an alien lightning gun? Raise your hand!**

"The beings of a dying elder world, wise with the ultimate secrets, had looked ahead for a new world and species wherein they might have long life; and had sent their minds en masse into that future race best adapted to house them – the cone-shaped beings that peopled our earth a billion years ago." —H. P. Lovecraft, "The Shadow Out of Time"

Pacifica found herself floating through the darkness, the pain in her head pulsing. She floated downward until she saw the little person from her dream the other night. He was doing that same dance to that bizarre jazz music that seemed to come from nowhere. As she neared him, the room with the red curtains and the zig-zag black and white floors. Her body lowered itself into that same easy chair, and the pain in her head seemed to leave. The little man turned to her.

"Pacifica," he said in a voice that still sounded as if it were played in reverse, "We are glad to welcome you back."

Across from her was an older gentleman, one in a three piece suit, with slightly graying hair. He looked over at her.

"Pacifica Northwest," he said, his voice sounding perfectly normal in this world, oddly enough, "Agent Dale Cooper at your service. You've grown quite a bit since I had last seen you. I was at one of your parent's dinner parties. While I appreciated the atmosphere, and I'm sure you'll take no offense to this at this present time, the company was way too snooty for my taste. Also, they didn't have enough coffee."

Pacifica looked around for the blonde woman, fearing she was just out of sight, possibly peering from out of one of the curtains.

"Don't worry," Cooper said, "If you're looking for Laura, her spirit has already passed. But there is apparently a message that you need to receive from here." She heard a rustling to her left and looked over, finding that the curtains had parted to reveal a wide, dark hallway. She looked back to see that Cooper had vanished. Her only resolve was to stand up and head down the hallway. As she got up and proceeded out of the room, she noticed the little man paid her no mind and continued dancing. She continued into the dark and noticed some of the décor had changed. There were now blue curtains with golden tassels hanging from the sealing. There was what looked like purple wallpaper with jagged black designs running vertically through them in which Pacifica could have sworn she could see demonic faces staring at her. Dim gas lamps hung from fixtures in the walls, what small light they produced causing shadows to dance this way and that through the hall. There was a low droning pipe organ playing an ominous tune in the distance.

Running past her were two figures, one looked like a young woman with braided pigtails, a red sweater with white and black checkers, and burgundy skirt, the other had pink hair in small pigtails, a poofy, over-the-top pink and white dress, and carrying what looked like a longbow. She looked back at them as they faded into the darkness behind her.

She continued on through the dark until she came to a round room with a table. On it was a crystal ball with what looked like a woman's transparent head inside of it. There were also musical instruments scattered across the table. The head began to speak.

"Serpents and spiders, tail of a rat," she said, "Call in the spirits, wherever they're at!" With that, the instruments began to float off of the table and play.

"Okay!" Pacifica said, drawing the word out as she witnessed this bizarre scene. She decided not to stay for the rest of the musical number and found that there was a staircase leading down through the floor. She continued down the stairs. They spiraled downward for what seemed like a very long time; Pacifica wondered how long it would take her to reach the bottom. Finally, the stairs terminated to a stone floor. The walls were etched with various carvings and runes of which she did not recognize, along with green glowing crystals, this being the hall's only light source. She continued onward until finding another circular room, this one having what looked like a green hexagonal control panel and a large circular apparatus that reminded her of the portal they had just dismantled. Seeing no other exits, she decided to press the button on the control panel, thinking perhaps this thing would open a door to get her out of this stupid dream.

She could not have been more wrong.

A white flash blazed across the room. The light was coming from the portal, and out of it came three gargantuan creatures Pacifica's had difficulty fully comprehending. Their bodies were cylindrical, looking almost like that of a bloated palm tree trunk; out of the tops came their arms and heads, their "hands" reminding her of lobster claws and their faces appearing as a mass of three eyes, antennas, and tentacles. They hovered closer to her, and Pacifica could only stand there, petrified.

"Pacifica," the closest one said, "you have been chosen to do your planet a great service." And with that, the creature reached its claw towards her. Pacifica was about to scream when a familiar voice sounded in her ear.

"Whao," Wendy said, leaning over her, "You're finally awake. You okay, kiddo?"

"Yeah, I guess," Pacifica said, rubbing her aching forehead and finding a bandage wrapped around it. She looked over at the young lumberjack and found it was from part of her flannel shirt. "What happened?"

"After we fell," Wendy said, "you hit your head pretty hard. I twisted my leg a bit, but it shouldn't be too bad. I was kind of worried; you were out for at least an hour." Pacifica looked down at her feet and thought about her dream. These weird creatures chose her for something? Wouldn't Dipper, Mabel, or Ford be a more suited candidate for some interdimensional task? Was her task to help them?

Of course, having just been attacked by some triangle shaped, cartoonish demon, she had a feeling she would find out soon enough what all this meant. The next step would be to figure out where they were.


	6. Gazing Into the Abyss

**"Time's up," teacher says, "Turn in what you have." Sorry I haven't been updating this as fast as I'd like. I've obviously been very busy with work and home life. I'm hoping to start getting at least a 1,000 words done a week. I know Stephen King requests that writers write more, but it's hard finding the time or the energy. I really need to work on my original stuff, too. Maybe I'll get it published one day, but it just feels like a pipe dream. Still, I can't give up and won't let myself. This is something I enjoy, and by God, I'm going to do it.**

**I was trying to think of a good quote to put on this one, but all the ones I could grab either didn't make sense, were too obvious, (*cough* N****eichze *cough*)**** or too pretentious. (Well, they're all pretentious, really, but some are just fun to use.) On a side note, I am happy that I made a Welcome to Night Vale reference in the first chapter and then it's main star shows up as a voice in the Stanchurian Candidate. Cecil's voice is perfect for narration and voice acting.**

Pacifica sat up, still nursing her swollen head. She looked around at her surroundings and felt the disorienting feeling of her environmental change. While there were some tiny lights above them, she could barely see her hand in front of her face. When she let her eyes adjust after a moment, she found that she and Wendy were in what looked like an ancient, dilapidated house.

"Where are we?" Pacifica asked.

"Not sure," Wendy said, "I think we're underneath the house."

"Did any of you know this was here?"

"I just recently learned about Ford's lab," Wendy responded, "Ugh, too many surprises to process in one day."

They looked around the room, the front door hanging off its hinges.

"May as well see what's out there," Wendy said, limping her way towards the door.

"I can barely see anything in here at all," Pacifica said, rising to her feet and standing behind Wendy, not ready to face what could be out there. The two girls looked out the door into the yawning blackness beyond. For a moment, they wondered if there was anything beyond the room as if all existence ended within that threshold and outside of it was oblivion. Their eyes adjusted yet again, and further down an obsidian path was what looked like more small ancient houses, the holes in the top of what the girls perceived to be a massive cave being their only illumination.

"Man, I wonder how big this place actually is," Wendy said.

"I wonder how people could have lived like this," Pacifica continued, "Plumbing and electricity are a must for me."

"I don't think I'd have a problem with it," Wendy replied, "Roughing it in the wilderness ain't that hard. Have you ever been camping."

"Can't say I have," Pacifica said, shaking her head and mildly scared at the prospect, "When we went horseback riding in the Appalachian mountains that one time, we rented a chalet."

Wendy shook her head, "Woman, you're missing out. There's this primal, natural feeling you just don't get from anywhere else." She pulled one of the two hatchets off her belt. "By the way, do you know your way around one of these?" She held it out to Pacifica who backed off a bit.

"Why do you ask?" Pacifica replied, backing away slightly.

"If we come across any monsters in here, you've got to defend yourself."

"I'm not much of a fighter."

"Oh come on," Wendy said, "I know you've got a temper in you. You can use that against whatever we might find in here. After Dipper and I got stuck in that other cave a few weeks ago, I'm not taking anymore chances. It's them or us." Pacific a thought for a moment. If Wendy could be this tough, so could she. And she and Dipper were stuck in a cave together? What did she miss? Either way, she wasn't about to show this lumber-girl any weakness. She was going to prove she could pull her weight and accomplish anything. She was a Northwest, after all.

"Sure," Pacifica answered after a moments hesitation and took the ax, "Just in case."

"That's the spirit," Wendy said, "Despite being out of your comfort zone, I know you can toughen up." The two then proceeded down the long, winding path towards the "village." Neither could shake the feeling of being watched, but that was to be expected, considering all they had seen. It felt that with each footfall they made, there was something behind them that was coping each of their steps.

They moved past several structures that reached all the way to the vast ceiling and found themselves in the center of the ancient town. Blue-white phosphorus lined the walkway, lighting their path as they continued. Behind them, they heard a low moaning cry that seemed to echo off the walls and lingered in their ears for what seemed like an eternity. Following that were the scratchings.

"Get ready," Wendy said, getting her hatchet at the ready.

"Born ready," Pacifica retorted.

What came out of each doorway somewhat resembled human skeletons had it not been for the long sickle arms. Also, the heads were missing, replaced by three small swirling orbs. Nevertheless, the creatures were able to make screeching and gurgling sounds that again echoed off the walls. The girls stood back to back, ready for anything.

Suddenly, one broke into a charge and scampered towards them, using its knees and sickles to scurry forward. It then lunged at Wendy, claws outward, who was fully ready for it. She swung her ax and took off both of the creatures sickles with one blow. It squealed and toppled over, its neon green blood glowing from the ground. More began converging on the girls, some scampering, others lumbering slowly forward like praying mantises on a leaf. Wendy took down three more before she decided it was time to move.

"Keep moving," she said, "We can take them all." With that, one leaped in front of Pacifica and took a swing at her. Pacifica only had time to react and didn't afford the luxury of shock. She took a swing at the creature and caught it in the claw; since she didn't have Wendy's brute strength, the ax only stuck in the creature's limb, allowing it to swipe at her again with its other claw. Pacifica jumped back to avoid it, took the ax out, and swung again with a backswing, this time knocking the nightmarish creature off its feet and into a nearby crack in the ground.

"Just like swinging a golf club," she said to herself.

"Gotta keep moving," Wendy said, knocking down a few more only to have them replaced by another row behind them. "Head for that small cave." She pointed to a large crack in one of the walls. Pacifica dodged a few more creatures (she wasn't about to spar with more than one at a time; Wendy was clearly better at this) before reaching the entrance to the cave, also conveniently illuminated by blue-white phosphorus. "Go on ahead," Wendy said, "I'll hold them off." Pacifica looked back and saw how hard Wendy was fighting. There was a lot to admire in her, and she could see why Dipper liked her. Did he still like her? How could Pacifica compare herself to her? They had also been through a lot more together. She may have been older, but in the grander scheme of time, say a few years from now, would that really matter? After all, her dad was a few years older than her mom.

Pacifica brushed those trivial fears aside and moved on. There were obviously bigger things to worry about than any competition with Wendy.

She found herself in another large chamber, a long rock bridge separating her from the far wall with another alcove at the end. She began moving forward, making sure also she didn't move too far ahead of Wendy. All of a sudden, a blast of wind knocked her off her feet and almost over the ledge before she reached out her hands and caught edge at the last moment. She looked down into the abyss, and what came out of it was more horrible than anything she had seen before this night, something large, writhing, gelatinous, and terrible.


	7. Flying Polyps

**Another chapter finished! Sorry it took so long; still have a lot going on in my life right now. Wish me luck and good thoughts, as my life may be making a change (hopefully for the better) soon. I remember when I first started this story. It's now gone from Twin Peaks crossover to full on H. P. Lovecraft/Guillermo del Toro territory. Thanks for reading; I'm going to see this through to the end no matter what happens in my life.**

As she climbed back onto the natural earth bridge, Pacifica looked over the side of the cliff from which she nearly fell and saw the gelatinous monster emerge from the darkness. It was a mass of eyes and mouths, all surrounded by a pink, transparent substance that floated through the air. The closer it came, the more Pacifica's mind began reeling at the sight of it.

She stumbled back, both in her lack of balance and from the shock of the creature and began scooting back, as the creature rose to eye level. She thought it was looking at her, but it was hard to tell. For a moment, it looked like the creature disappeared, only to reappear even higher above her.

It then shouted with an ear splitting screech and sent an insanely strong blast of wind at her, tossing her from the cliff like a leaf from a tree in autumn. As she fell from the cliff, her mind flew into a panic as her inner survival instincts kicked in, causing her to reach out her hand and catch the side of the cave wall. She then pulled herself into a small alcove in order to seek protection from this awful creature that her mind could not fully comprehend.

It seemed as though she had lost whatever that thing was for a moment.

She looked around her in order to regain her bearings, there was a small ledge she thought she might be able to scoot across in order to get back to the bridge and to Wendy. She turned around in the larger, darkened portion of the alcove to find an all to familiar sight: there was one of the creatures from her dream, in all its immensity, lying on the ground, clearly dead. In its claw was what looked kind of like of the guns she saw on her last laser tag outing. (She wouldn't admit it, but she kind of enjoyed a game of it every once in awhile; it was a good way to output her rage) She walked over and picked it up. It was gold in color and had two handles for added support, along with weird runes across it and what looked like a control panel on the left side in a language she clearly could not understand. As she picked it up and pressed one of the buttons on the control panel, six needle-like prongs came out of the barrel of the gun and formed a slowly spinning circle around the base of the barrel. The runes on the weapon glowed green, and a wave of panic washed over Pacifica as she wondered what she had unleashed.

She didn't have long to think on this as she looked up and saw at the entrance of the crevice that the creature had phased back into this reality. Her instincts kicked in again, and she aimed her weapon at the creature and pulled the trigger. The needles began whirling faster, generating electricity out of each tip as the weapon made what sounded like a low hum that gradually increased in pitch. The charge, unfortunately, was moving too slow as Pacifica held her finger on the trigger, and the creature let out another ear piercing screech followed by another blast of wind that knocked Pacifica back against the dead alien thing from her dreams.

Fortunately, as Pacifica fell back, she still kept her aim on the creature. The hum had reached its zenith, and a long continuous bold of bright blue electricity flew from the barrel and into one of the creatures open mouths. The creature screeched again, and this was the break Pacifica was looking for. She ran toward the crevice entrance and aimed her gun at the creature again. She then found that if she held the trigger for less time, it would fire a shorter bolt, which she proceeded to do multiple times to the creature. Finally, she let it charge once more, this time until the sensors in the control panel began flashing a reddish orange color, and as the creature began to open its mouth for another gust of wind, she let go of the trigger, letting a huge blast fly into its closest face.

The creature then exploded into what could have been gallons worth of ectoplasm.

"Ew," Pacifica nonchalantly said, wiping her face of the gross smelling crap and spitting out any that had gotten in her mouth, "I really hope these stains come out." She then heard Wendy's gruff but faint voice.

"Pacifica!" shouted Wendy, "Where are you? Are you still alive?" Pacifica could see Wendy on the bridge.

"Down here," Pacifica yelled, allowing Wendy to locate her, "Are you okay? Where are those weird skeleton mantis things?"

"They ran off when they heard that loud screeching," Wendy shouted back, "What happened?"

"I think I found something that will help us down here," Pacifica responded, "I just vaporized some other monster with it."

"Do you see any way of climbing back up?" Wendy asked.

"I think there's a path along here," Pacifica said, and proceeded to shuffle along the wall to her right. It curved upwards towards the bridge, thankfully, but Pacifica still had to remind herself not to look down. Her luck changed, however, when the ledge began to run too thin. Wendy ran to the other end where Pacifica was roughly ten feet away from the bridge.

"Okay Paz," Wendy said, granting her a new nickname on the spot that rolled off the tongue a little easier for her, "You're going to have to jump for it!"

"Are you serious?" Pacifica said, "I can't make that."

"Yes you can," Wendy shouted, "I believe in you. You're tougher than you think!"

Pacifica took a deep breath and leapt forward. Wendy caught her by a few inches, but the weight of Pacifica with her new weapon began dragging her down as well. She struggled to keep her footing as Pacifica held Wendy's wrist in one hand, the lightning gun in the other.

"I'll swing you over," Wendy said, and with that, she exerted enough energy in her arms to bring Pacifica onto the bridge. It was just enough inertia to bring her crashing onto her chest. Wendy held her upper arm. "Great; now I have a sore arm and a sore leg. What is that thing anyway?"

"It's some sort of ray gun," Pacifica said, "I found it in that alcove there, along with a dead version of one of the monsters from my dreams. I don't think I'm as good with an ax as you are, but as long as this thing works, I'll stick to this. Plus, I really like the gold trim; very stylish."

"Just as long as you can carry it," Wendy said, "It does look a little heavy on you."

"Hey," Pacifica said, "You're the one who said I'm stronger than I think."

"Be careful with that, girls," a voice said. They looked up to see Ford approaching them from the other end of the bridge. "If that's what I think it is, it can be very dangerous."

"Ford, you're okay," Wendy said, "Where are the others?"

"I don't know," he said, looking around, "I woke up alone after the fall." Pacifica then thought about Dipper and Mabel. If Ford survived the fall, maybe they were okay too, likewise finding their way through the maze of tunnels.

"If you know what this thing is," Pacifica said, "maybe you can fill me in on some of these monsters and maybe what's going on inside my head?"


	8. Finding the Wheel

**Wow, finally had time to write a new chapter. Weirdmageddon Part 1 was awesome, wasn't it? Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. It's hard to adult some days, but I still want to find as much time as I can to write. Anyways, enjoy more snarky Pacifica. I'm very disappointed at how under-utilized she is on the show now. Alex had built so much potential with her after NMN.**

"Had my present body been the vehicle of a frightful alien consciousness from palaeogean gulfs of time? Had I, as the captive mind of those shambling horrors, indeed known that accursed city of stone in its primordial heyday, and wriggled down those familiar corridors in the loathsome shape of my captor?" – H. P. Lovecraft, "The Shadow Out of Time"

"Young lady," Ford began, "what exactly do you mean by 'going on inside your head?'"

"I keep having these weird dreams," Pacifica said, "Sometimes, they're just odd abstract shapes out of some dumb art film, but most recently, I had visions of these weird tentacled beasts, saying that I've been chosen for something. All the while, I'm wondering what makes me so special. Dipper and Mabel seem more likely candidates for weird freaky things. Why not pick them? Plus, I think I saw a dead one of the creatures from my dreams down there, so it's got me even more worried."

Ford knelt down and met her at eye level. This was a habit of his, as he always wanted to be on the same level with whomever he spoke.

"From the sounds of it," he began, "you're being visited by the great race of Yith. According to ancient lore, they lived 200 million years ago on a dying planet. In order to escape their fate and continue their fight against the horrendous creatures that had attacked their home world, they needed to project their consciousness and memories across space and time to the nearest species that would be able to comprehend their message and mission. Among these was the human race. They picked only the brightest minds to offer this message, giving our species the instruction we needed to defend our world from the flying polyps and other gelatinous monstrosities that had once threatened them. All of this came from the reports of some scholar from the early 20th century whom everyone thought was mad. Yet, parapsychologists are still studying his work today, and with more scientific evidence of these creatures, the idea is becoming less and less farfetched."

"Great," Pacifica said, rolling her eyes, "So my brain has been invaded by palm tree crab squids. Wonderful."

"It means that you have a great mind, young lady," Ford continued, "From the Yithian's understanding, you will have a tremendous role in saving this town from ultimate destruction."

"That actually sounds pretty cool to me," Wendy said, "Sometimes I wish aliens would invade my brain. It would at least make life here a lot more interesting."

"Yeah," Pacifica said, "but it kind of sucks when it actually happens. I feel like the past few days have been one long fever dream."

"Indeed," Ford said, "But we've got to continue onward. Follow me, young ladies. We need to find the rest of the group."

Pacifica, Wendy, and Ford walked to the opposite opening on the other side of the bridge. Ford fired up a flashlight, as the rest of the cave did not have the same convenient phosphorescent glow. They then proceeded down another long, dark cavern, remains of old clay housing lining the walls. Pacifica still wondered how anyone could live in a place like this. Where did they prepare their meals? Where did they defecate? She didn't want to think about it.

Suddenly, further down the hall, they heard screams.

"That sounded like Robbie," Wendy said, "I'd know that girly scream anywhere." The group ran forward to find Soos attempting to pull Robbie out of a hole. Inside the hole, they noticed what popular culture allowed them to clearly identify as a zombie. It was attempting to drag him downward with it, but Soos was doing his best to keep that from happening. It continually tried to bite Robbie, but his thrashing was such it couldn't get a good bite beyond a tuft of his hoodie. "I've got this," Wendy continued, raising her ax.

"No," Ford said, "You'll fall with him."

"Then I've got this," Pacifica said, raising the lightning gun. Ford pushed it down and shook his head. She understood his implied meaning; she could potentially shock the whole group with that thing. Ford then pulled a laser pistol from his coat, fired it above the creature, and allowed a collection of rocky debris to knock it in the head. It let go, moaning as it fell down the hole, allowing Soos to pull Robbie to solid ground.

"Whao-ho-ho!" Soos exclaimed, "Thanks Mr. Pines Number Two."

"Ford, please," he said, putting the pistol back in his jacket, "And you're welcome. I'm assuming you two haven't run into my brother, Dipper, or Mable."

"Naw," Robbie said, "I found the big guy here wandering around in the cavern like I was, and we decided to stick together. People survive longer in horror movies when they're in a group, right?"

"Depends on the movie," Wendy responded.

"There's partial truth in what you say, son," Ford said "We need to find the others soon. I fear that Bill has already set his plan for mass chaos into motion."

"Things are probably already starting to turn to shit out there," Robbie said.

"We have to find a way to stop him," Ford said. And the group continued down the long corridor.

In the distance, they saw a shimmering blue light and began to race towards it. The light was coming from an open crevice in the cave that led to a much larger chamber. Here, the group saw what looked like a colossal circular alter with various symbols around its wheel. Gideon's lifeless body lay on one area with a pentacle symbol. Three large orbs hovered in the air, and in the center of the alter was none other than Bill himself, having transformed into a large black swirling pyramid shape. Blue flames emitted an eerie glow from his hands.

The word "Nyarlathotep" entered everyone's minds, but except for Ford, none of them knew what it meant.

Bill seemed not to notice them enter the chamber.

"Ha, now that my physical form is complete," he said to himself, "I no longer need this five pointed star meat-sack to do stuff. And once all the players are here, we can finally speed the universe along in what it was slowly doing anyway, collapsing in on itself in one beautiful ball of exploding chaos!"

"Still more exposition...why?" Pacifica asked rhetorically under her breath. She looked at the orbs, each one holding a symbol from the wheel in above where it hovered. One had a shooting star, another a crab-like crest, and finally a pine tree. She squinted and saw the silhouettes of bodies in each one.

It did not take her long to decide that if Dipper was in the pine tree bubble, she was going to save him. She slid down the narrow slope and ran towards the alter. She could hear Wendy yell, "Paz! No! Wait!" but she refused to acknowledge her. She was prepared to save him again, and this time, she was armed.

Bill spun his gaze towards her.

"Aww, the Llama wanted to be with the Pine Tree," he said as she leapt inside the bubble, gripping her gun tight, "How sweet! You'll get a bubble of your own when you come out!"

**PS: Enjoy this. (Should have shared this last chapter, but oh well...wait Youtube links don't work on here? Okay, look up Elder Sign (HD) on Youtube it's funny and relevant)**


	9. Dipper's Bubble

**Sorry it's taken so long to get this out. Just life things still getting in the way, but they're important. Still wishing I had more time to write original stuff and finally get published, but that will come later, I'm sure. Anyways, I really enjoyed Weirdmageddon 2. Mabel is always entertaining. But of course, I had to make my story different, or what would be the point? While the bubbles in the show are meant to keep the subject happy and complacent, they take a different approach and meaning in my story. Hope you enjoy.**

**PS: Google image search the term "three lobed burning eye" and the story "The Haunter of the Dark" by H. P. Lovecraft. Have fun.**

"What is the object of this circle of misery and violence and fear? It must have a purpose or the universe has no meaning and that is unthinkable. But what purpose? That is humanity's great problem to which reason so far has no answer." – Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Cardboard Box"

In the moment between entering the bubble and arriving at the other side, a vision flashed in front of Pacifica's eyes. She found herself on a desolate red rocky landscape, a bright orange setting sun in front of her and a small body of water about 200 yards from her. Small fish-like humanoids began emerging from it, about 6 feet high each, which her mind immediately recognized as the Deep Ones, servants of the dreaded Dagon. She looked down at her claw and readied the lightning gun which her human body would carry 50 million years from now. She fired it in a spread fashion and wiped out the first wave of Deep Ones in front of her. Her palm tree, squid-like cohorts to the left and right of her did the same. One shouted that they could not hold them back for long before the creatures finally overcame him. The other fired his weapon until a colossal set of tentacles flew out of the body of water and snatched him into it. No sooner did this happen then Pacifica was immediately faced with a set of claws and teeth flying into her face.

The vision faded.

Pacifica found herself floating in what she perceived to be space. She floated through the inky blackness, distant stars twinkling off in the distance, their billion year old light finally reaching her eyes. Was any of this real? Could there be a whole new world inside this bubble? Could she move freely through it? She didn't seem to have any trouble breathing at least, so she took the time to examine her surroundings.

She looked through the empty see of nothingness and eventually found a small figure floating in the distance. She squinted, and her heart raced as she realized who it was: Dipper. She attempted to push herself forward and found she could indeed move at will; it was like swimming underwater.

Right before she reached Dipper, two creatures generated from the nothingness on either side of her. They looked like yellow, transparent snakes or Chinese dragons at first glance, but their eyes were much more malevolent and horrifying, dull black pupil-less irises that she could tell were still looking at her in spite of it. They slithered through the empty void towards her, and all Pacifica could think to do was to raise her weapon and fire.

The gun began to charge, but it was too late. The creature flew past her, biting her shoulder as it did. Pacifica yelped and looked at the wound. It hurt immensely, but she was more agitated at the fact that her expensive shirt and jacket were probably now beyond repair. (Could the cleaners get interdimensional monster slobber out of these) Her adrenaline getting stronger, she raised the weapon again and after a moment's charge, fired it at the other beast just as its gaping mouth was five inches away from her head. The creature screeched and disappeared; Pacifica wondered how these things could be making a sound if they were indeed in space. She had remembered from school that since space is a vacuum, there could be no sound waves. This ruined every science fiction movie she saw afterwards.

The musing passed quickly, as the other creature quickly doubled back and flew towards her again. This time, she was ready for it. She charged the weapon again and likewise vaporized the transparent monstrosity. For some reason, she thought of an old video game she played in her father's private arcade collection room, Space Harrier.

She looked back towards Dipper, calming down and keeping focused on the goal. She floated near him, and touched his shoulder. He didn't seem to acknowledge her, only looking out into the endless blackness.

"Dipper," she said, shaking him by the shoulder, "Dipper, it's me. I'm here to get you out of here. Come on, snap out of it."

"It's starting," he said, still not breaking his gaze from whatever captured his attention. With that, there was a bright flash, brighter than anything Pacifica had ever seen. As the light faded, she looked back to where Dipper was staring and saw off in the distance What looked like a cluster of stars swirling and forming around an inky blackness, but it was hard to tell what exactly it was. Likewise, hundreds of the same creatures she encountered swirled and danced around it in the darkness. How far away they were, she could not tell, but she did not want to look at them any further. Her mind just couldn't take it.

"Can you see it?" Dipper said, "What's at the center?"

"No," Pacifica said, "it's way too dark and blurry."

"I can," Dipper said, "And in it, I see the end. It's the black hole that will eventually swallow the Earth. The Milky Way will survive its collision with Andromeda, only to eventually collide with this monstrosity. I look at this and all I can think is whether or not its all worth it. Any efforts I make to save the town or to save the world from Bill, will it amount to anything. I could solve all the mysteries in the world, only to have the universe's garbage disposal crush it into space dust. If it's all going to end anyway, why are we even here? All I am is the Big Dipper, ready to be smashed into antimatter at anytime."

"Dipper," she said, sighing, "I don't know. I don't have all the answers and never will. Neither will you, no matter how hard you dig into your science and all your nerdy crap. But I know this much right now that I don't want the world to end yet. We have to stop this Bill thing from destroying our home. And think about this. I've seen the way your family and friends are around you. You have a lot of people who care about you...including me. The past few days have been incredibly scary but exhilarating, and I wouldn't trade them for the world." She wrapped an arm around him from behind and rested her head on his back, her other hand still holding her weapon out of fear. "Now, come on. Your family needs you…I need you."

"Come on, Dipper," Wendy said from behind them, "I know you're a tougher kid than this. You're awesome. Pull yourself together."

"She's right, son," Ford said from behind Wendy, floating towards Dipper who had then turned to face the three of them, "I haven't known you for very long but I can already tell you've overcame many a great ordeal."

"Yes," Dipper said, more color and a pleasant expression returning to his face, "And your journals have helped me survive so many of them."

"That's the keyword," Ford said, floating directly in front of him, "Survival. We humans weren't meant to give in to these feelings of annihilation. We each have a survival instinct within us that pushes us and gives us the will to keep moving. Hold onto that feeling, Dipper. Don't let it go. Trust your instincts and keep moving forward. Now, lets get out of this bubble."

"Dipper," Pacifica said, butting in the middle between them, "Don't give up. You're the most awesome guy I've ever met." She hugged him again. "Lets get out of here."

Dipper shook his head and blinked his eyes, a feeling of having woken from a dream he could not quite remember washing over his mind before reality of the waking world came into view.

"Whoa," Dipper said, "What happened? Where are we?"

"We're inside one of Bill's prison spheres," Ford said, "I believe Bill's goal was to break your spirit before he broke your body. To what end, I'm not sure. I'm not why he chose us for this at all."

"Either way, man," Wendy began, "you really have Paz here to thank for trying to save you. The first sight of you in a bubble sent her running down a hill to go help."

"Pacifica?" Dipper said, "You rushed in here to help me?"

"Well...yeah," she said, blushing, "I couldn't just sit by and do nothing. I...still have to kick you and Mabel's butts at mini-golf."

"You're surprising me more and more each day," Dipper said, reaching out and holding her hand. Wendy smiled at this, knowing this poor kid was finally over her and in good hands.

There was a roar behind them. They looked to where they perceived the black hole to be to find what looked like something emerging from it. Out of the abyss came colossal black tentacles, two immense black wings, and a massive bright yellow three-lobed burning eye. At the slightest glance of this thing, their minds reeled, not fully grasping what they were seeing coming out of the black hole towards them.

"We can't stay here any longer," Ford said, "We need to get out of here now." The four of them then propelled themselves through space away from the monstrosity that was now tumbling towards them, screeching as it did. But there was a slight bend in front of them, something that looked almost like a plastic covering. Ford took out his laser pistol and blasted it open, bursting the bubble and sending falling to the ground, now back in the real world.

They had escaped one form of agony only to face a new one before them as Bill looked down upon them.


	10. Gideon Awakens

**February. That's when we get our final episode. This story's ending is probably going to be very different from Alex's, but I hope it still stands on its own merit.**

**Sorry for not getting this out sooner. Taking care of my family over the holidays AND starting a new job immediately after flying back home was...exhausting and didn't leave very much time to write. But it's the new year, and I'm determined I'm going to try and do this more often. After making this, there were a few things I really should have done differently. Oh well, I really wanted it out; it had been too long.**

**Now how do I get McGucket into this?**

The four of them hit the ground, and Bill swiveled the top portion of this body towards them. His form was indescribable, and each time the group looked at him, their minds recoiled and could not fully comprehend what their eyes were seeing.

"Huh," he said, "So the Pine Tree managed to escape after all. I'll have to make a stronger prison for you in a moment. In the meantime..." he snapped the fingers from one of his six arms, and Pacifica and Wendy began floating into the air before their own respective bubbles encased them as well. "I'm going to punish Dipping Sauce here for escaping. See, I did say I'd have a bubble waiting for you when you left. I'm a man of my word. Well, Sixer, after all these years, don't you and I have some things to discuss?"

"There's nothing left to say," Ford said, pulling the laser rifle off his back, "Are you going to try your bubble prison trick on me as well?"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Bill replied, "But of course I know you'd get out of it pretty easy. I already know my mind tricks don't work very well on you, given that freakish metal plate in your head. Oh yeah, I'm already onto your strategies, tin man. Besides, I need you for other things, like getting out of the force field around this town. In the meantime, no distractions..." With that, he lifted a hand and fired blue energy blast at Dipper.

Ford quickly pushed Dipper out of the way, and the blast flew between them.

"Leave the boy out of this," Ford said, reaching into his coat and pulling out a new device. He placed it on the ground, pressed a button, and the room was enveloped in yellow light. Dipper felt a momentary shock as the light hit him, but was fine shortly after that.

"What is this goofiness you're trying now, Sixer?" Bill asked. Bill raised his hand

"This is an anti-energy field," Ford said, "just to ensure you won't be immediately vaporizing us for now." And hopefully no more weird bubbles, Ford and Dipper collectively thought.

"Alright, alright," Bill said, "I'll play your little game for now. I know that thing has a battery limit, so we'll just bide our time here. But you probably guessed this only created limitations for me, just a minor setback. I've still got some energy blasts headed your way. Let's see how many you can dodge, old man." With that, the floating creature Bill had become began firing short bursts of energy from its "hands" at Ford. (Though they weren't quite as powerful as before, they did leave small burn marks on impact) Ford ducked and dodged as much as he could, while Dipper could only watch as his newest gruncle distracted the beast. Ford's laser cannon wouldn't work very well in this field, but what could it do to Bill at this point? Tickle him? He would just stick to dodging for now.

Bill attempted to blast the device, but the anti-energy field was stronger in proximity to the device, dissipating the attack. Bill shrugged his "shoulders" (if one could call them that) and kept up his assault on Ford.

Dipper looked over and found that the previously incapacitated Gideon began to move. He rushed over to him, half wanting to pull him up and ask for help and half wanting to punch him in the face.

"Gideon..." Dipper was able to mutter as he got closer. How much had this little puke betrayed them this time? How much had this freak done to hurt them in the past? He raised his fist, oh so hoping he could caus it to collide with his nose and at least break a bit of cartilage. (Wimpy noodle arms could really only do so much)

"Wha? Dipper Pines?" Gideon muttered out as he sat upwards, "What happened? Actually, it don't matter. My darlin' Mabel's imprisoned, thanks to my cosmic buddy, Bill, and there's nothin' you or your Gruncle Stan can do to stop us."

"Stop you? What do you have planned?" Dipper stammered, not really knowing how to respond as his mind was still reeling from having witnessed all he had.

"Ha," Gideon laughed, "After Bill takes Gravity Falls, he promised me Mabel would be my queen after we decimated this lil' ol' backwater town that turned against me. He just needed to use me as a meat puppet for a little while s'all."

Dipper shook his head, his logical mode coming back to him. He was obviously overthinking the situation, but he couldn't find any remote logic in Gideon's deal with Bill.

"Gideon," Dipper began, "Let me be straight with you." He grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. There were so many things he wanted to say to this kid, but despite his mental state being compromised, he blurted them out anyways. "You obviously feel like you're in love with my sister, right? Do you really even know what that means? You hold her against her will and then you expect her to love you after that? You can't make someone love you. I should know; I tried forcing a breakup between Robbie and Wendy, partially because I wanted to be with her, (and partially because his music had some weird mind control element) and she didn't speak to me for several days."

Dipper loosened his grip on Gideon's shirt, as he could see on Gideon's chubby face that he was getting through to him.

"You've done some seriously selfish things as of late, but this has to be the biggest," Dipper continued, "But you know, I was duped by Bill as well. I made a deal with him once, and it blew up in my face, just like it's going to with you and by process, the rest of this town. But it's not too late. You still have time to make the right decision and help us out of this."

There was a long pause between them. Ford was still doing his best to distract Bill, the blasts and shouts echoing through the cavern. Gideon looked over at Mabel's bubble and focused on it hard. He thought he could see through it and into the world that lay within. He had an image in his head of Mabel sitting alone in a dead gray, monochrome desert, a blackened sky overhead, and not a creature to give her comfort. A broken sign reading "Mabeland" swung loose on its hinges as the cold wind swept over her. Is this what he had brought upon her, a cold, lonely, and empty world? Is this what he wanted for her? It was time he needed to ask himself how Mabel felt, and he felt sick when he thought about the harassment and malice he had brought to her and her brother.

"What do you need me to do?" Gideon asked in a hushed, humbled tone.

Dipper looked at the cliff side and saw Soos and Robbie sliding down to the giant alter. Soos leapt into Stan's bubble, yelling something like, "Don't worry, Mr. Pines. We'll find your mouth again." Robbie jumped into Wendy's bubble; they were still friends, despite their recent petty differences, and the last thing he wanted was to see anything bad happen to her.

"I think we're able to enter these bubbles," Dipper said, looking upward at Pacifica's bubble. He caught a brief glimpse of her in his mind's eye; she appeared to be by strings, like a puppet. No, not strings. Chains. "We have to get everyone out of their bubbles. I've seen the design of this room before in the journals. It looks like the wheel surrounding Bill. If everyone can pick a symbol, I think we can activate the rooms powers. It's going to be up to you to get Mabel out of her bubble."

"But..." Gideon stammered.

"You got her into this mess, but now you're going to get her out," Dipper continued, "She might not trust you at first, but that's something you're going to need to work on. But if you want to prove yourself to her, this is the way to do it. Release her and stand up to Bill."

"You're right," Gideon said, breathing heavily, steeling himself, and finding new resolve, "I can do this. I can tell her how sorry I am and get her out of that world." With that, he raced towards Mabel's bubble, all the while Ford looked gradually more exhausted from dodging Bill's assault.

"Give up yet, old man?" Bill's voice echoed. Dipper turned from the scene and looked towards Pacifica's bubble again. There was what looked like a long stretch of rocks near a violent sea. Pacifica was chained to the large rock at the far end of it. Dipper took a deep breath and leapt into the bubble.


	11. Pacifica's Bubble

**Damn Darkmoose, back at it again with the Yithian Lightning Gun. (Seriously, I don't know why the "Damn Daniel" video is funny) Well, after some convincing, I decided to continue this story while I worked on my other one, depending on what I felt like doing. Who cares if it doesn't follow canon, right? Fanfiction seems to be all about creating AUs where readers can indulge their fantasies about the characters they love so much.******

**Truth be told, I'm still questioning whether or not this is any good. The dialogue still sounds weird to me. (I don't think this is how 13 year olds talk.) And I still don't get as many reviews or comments as some other writers on here. But oh well. I still enjoy doing this, as long as I know it's at least entertaining to some. Even if it's bad, maybe someone somewhere will get a laugh out of it, like The Room or an Ed Wood movie.******

**Anyways, enjoy.**

Having walked through the bubble, Dipper found himself on what looked like a rocky coast, overlooking a vast blue green sea. Off in the distance were dark, oppressive storm clouds that looked to be coming in from the right, while off to the left was a bright tunnel of golden clouds through which the sun occasionally peeked like some bright yellow eye. It looked less like a real sky and more like a vast John Martin painting. He squinted and thought he could see strange shapes in the massive yellow tunnel, moving shapes of an unearthly quality. From the stormy area, he thought he could see some moving things peering from beneath the waves, but they were too far off to tell what they were.

He saw at the end of the coast a tall rock formation and at its base a small figure. It had to be Pacifica. He raced along the jagged rocks the best he could without slipping into the waters or worse, breaking his neck. He had almost gotten to the rock formation when he found that weird-ass alien rifle Pacifica had been carrying. He looked at it, and its operation mostly confused him, but he had played with plenty of toy guns when he was younger, so how different could this one be? He took it with him and continued towards the spire.

He found Pacifica chained to the side of the spire (right, how much platitude do you want here, Bill?), looking out towards the bright tunnel of clouds. Now, it was clear to Dipper what had been in the tunnel of clouds and what Pacifica had been staring at for what he was sure felt like hours, maybe days, in her mind. In it were two titanic porcelain figures, both appearing as Preston and Priscilla in the finest of Greek attire. Their faces were stern and hostile, looking down upon Pacifica with a sense of judgment and wrath.

"Pacifica," Dipper said, grabbing at the chains on her wrist, "I'm glad I found you. We have to get you out of here. Where's the key?"

"It doesn't matter," Pacifica slowly moaned into the air, "I have failed them. I have failed to reach perfection and dishonored the gods. My parents have decreed me unfit to continue. I will now be a feast for the Old Ones."

"Pacifica, what are you saying?" Dipper said, but he realized this was part of the mind control of the bubbles, the same type of mind control to which he was subjected. He sighed and took a blunt but understanding tone to his voice. "Look, I know you strive to be the best at everything you do. In all honesty, I'm the same way. I'm just as much of a perfectionist as you. But the fact is you're not perfect. I'm not perfect. As much as your parents want to ingrain it into you, no one can live up to their expectations." Dipper looked over and watched the waves increase. He saw the faces of the fake Preston and Priscilla become harsher than before as the storm came their way. The captive Pacifica became more frightened as the distant tolling of a bell rang through the air. "And they will continue to treat you like a slave even if you do all the things they ask you to do. I don't know how I know this, but I just know. You..." he paused.

"I'm what?" Pacifica asked, "A link in their horrible chain? That's what you were trying to tell me the other night, right? I've been such an elitist bitch and a shrew to you and your sister. I deserve death."

"No!" Dipper shouted, silencing her negativity. The waves were getting stronger, and Dipper thought he could see strange creates getting closer. He gathered up all the courage he had, pushed past any awkwardness he had, and told her in the most honest way he could. "I think you're amazing. You're really pretty, talented, determined, and as I'm sure you've already heard, smarter than you think. I really like all those qualities in you." He thought of Wendy again and realized that he couldn't compare the two of them. When he thought about it, he actually did have more in common with his sister's rival than he thought, and maybe, just maybe, the most popular girl in Gravity Falls was right for him. But that was all secondary to the fact that something in the water was getting closer, and the false gods were still leering down at them.

"And..." Dipper continued, an awkwardness in his voice that he knew he could never shake, "and I would love to tell you more about it if you and I hung out together somewhere, but even more importantly, you've got to believe it right now. I can talk all I want, but the only thing you need to do is believe what I say for yourself. You have the power to break free from their chain."

Just then, the creatures emerged from the waters.

They were horrid amalgamations of various sea life. The first one Dipper spotted was a crab-like creature with tentacles instead of claws and a large beak where its face would normally be located. The second was a huge hermit crab with bat wings. Either way, each was more grotesque than the last. He readied the lightning gun, but when he tried to pull the trigger, nothing happened.

"Ugh," Dipper grunted, "How do you get this to work?'

Pacifica blinked her eyes. She heard his words echo out in his head. Preston and Priscilla's faces seemed to leer closer, but the more Dipper's words registered, the more she realized she was no longer afraid of them and never needed to be. That didn't stop the distant bells from getting louder. They echoed through the air in a sort of runic rhyme, and her stomach continued to sink at the rolling and the tolling of the imaginary bells. But she was stronger than that, and she knew that now.

She fully opened her eyes and stared into the gargantuan porcelain faces of her parents. She stood her ground, and eventually, their expressions began to crack until their faces exploded in shards of porcelain. Out of the hollow spots where their faces had been were two small floating objects. They hovered in the air and flew together to form a key for her. She grabbed it and began unlocking her shackles; her arms were mobile enough that she could reach both wrist and apply the key to both shackles.

"Press the circle first!" Pacifica shouted to Dipper. He did so, and was surprised to see it light up for him. Pacifica continued to unlock herself but gave further instructions. "Now press the top triangle on the light wheel closest to you on that side panel."

"How do you know all of this?" Dipper asked.

"I don't know," Pacifica said, "Blame the weird, dead aliens that invaded my brain."

"What?"

"Long story," Pacifica said. Just then, Dipper noticed the front-most creature was now two feet away from him. Its tentacle flew out and grabbed the muzzle of the gun. Dipper held on tight to it and accidentally held the trigger. The electric sound of the charge began to hum, and as Dipper moved and struggled, he eventually released the trigger. A burst of lightning flew into the creature's beak, causing it to explode. Green goo flew everywhere.

"Ewww," Dipper groaned, wiping his face.

"Dipper, thank you," Pacifica said and threw her arms around him and kissed him, not caring about the monster ichor, "Thank you for coming to help me again."

"And again, you saved yourself," Dipper said, overcoming the shock.

"You better let me take that," Pacifica said, and snatched the gun from him, "Now, come on!" She grabbed Dipper by the hand, and the two raced along the coast towards the dark area where they perceived was the end of the bubble and the end of Pacifica's nightmare world. Behind them were more abominations from the sea, each one more grotesque than the last. One hopped in front of Pacifica, and she immediately dispatched it with a lightning burst. Dipper looked back and saw that where the Preston and Priscilla titans had previously stood the storm clouds had now engulfed. He thought he could make out another figure with each lightning flash, one that was silently towering above the sea, with what looked like an octopus head and dragon wings on its back.

The two reached what looked like a darker edge of the coast, as if there was some shielding around the rest of their perceived reality.

"Mom, Dad, I'm bursting your bubble," Pacifica shouted and fired a shot into the curved portal. The world around her and Dipper burst into a million pieces, and various rocks, sea plants, and crawling shellfish hit the cave floor with them.

Dipper looked up and saw that Mabel and Gideon had emerged from their respective bubble as well, both hiding behind a rock, on guard for when Bill took his eyes off Ford, who was still providing a distraction from Bill. He heard the sound of the two other bubbles pop. Soos and Stan landed on the ground, Stan being quick to stand up and put up his fists, both of which were equipped with gold knuckles.

"You want to try that shit again, Bill?" Stan said, not thinking about he implications, "Come on, I dare ya."

Robbie and Wendy landed on the ground as well. Robbie helped Wendy to her feet, who looked like she was about to faint but instead vomited on the cave floor.

"Whatever that was I had to eat," Wendy said, regaining her composure, "remind me never to order it at a restaurant ever again."

"Oh great!" Bill shouted, "It looks like the whole gang is here. But I can't help but feel like you're missing someone from your little wheel. Without him, I've got you all where I want you: at my mercy!"

"Not so fast, ya weird critter," a voice from the wall said. It was McGuckett. He was carrying what looked like a bazooka with neon lights all over it. "I got this here thingamajigger that makes its own crazy bubbles. It's time ya got a taste of yer own medicine."


	12. Banishment

"The cat in the hat came back, wrecked a lot of havoc on the way/Always had a smile and a reason to pretend/But their world has flat backgrounds and little need to sleep but to dream/The sidewinder sleeps on his back." – R.E.M.

McGucket aimed his weapon, pulled the trigger, which began charging the weapon. Bill only made a weird, guttural, gelatinous laugh.

"Oh, you really think a slow weapon like that can stop me?" Bill said, morphing yet again into another unspeakable, triangular monstrosity, "I could just snap my fingers and you'd be in three pieces. In fact..." He raised his hand. Just then, a burst of energy hit Bill in the back. It came from Ford's 618 battle rifle.

"Damn," Ford said, "I thought that would stop him for sure." He paused and began reloading a new energy cell cartridge. "My energy dampening field may have worn off, Bill, but that only means you have to deal with both of us now."

"Don't mind if I do!" Bill shouted, and raised two of his now multiple hands, telekinetically lifting and choking both Ford and McGucket. They both held their respective weapons ready, trying to focus through the pain.

Pacifica didn't waste time. She aimed the Yithian weapon at the new creature that was Bill and charged the weapon. Dipper grabbed the muzzle of the gun and steadied it directly at Bill's largest (and what Dipper assumed was his main fundamental) eye.

A burst of lightning streaked out and illuminated the cavern in a bright flash of white. It collided with Bill's eye, causing it to jitter and finally explode in another burst of light and ectoplasm.

"OW!" Bill shrieked, which echoed through each subsequent tunnel, "MY EYE! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG THAT WILL TAKE ME TO REGENERATE!"

"You didn't count on me, did you, jerk?" Pacifica said.

That was the break Ford and McGucket needed. Ford launched another energy blast at Bill, causing him to screech out a hideous, unearthly noise, stunning him for a moment. McGucket's bazooka finally finished charging and launched a bright multicolored ball, which promptly engulfed Bill.

"Time fer ah taste of yer own med'cin," McGucket yelled, "Yer the reason I'm all katty-wonkered. Now you git to see a ringsidewampis world. Don't that just crack yer yaller?"

Dipper looked at the bubble. While he could see some preview in each when he was close to them, he couldn't see through the one that McGucket's gun had made. Perhaps it's properties were different, but it seemed to contain him for the moments it was there.

"I wonder what kind of weird nightmares Bill's seeing in there," he said.

Within the bubble, Bill immediately returned to his original form. He felt that his eye had returned to him in no time at all. He opened it and immediately regretted this action.

He realized where he was: the Second Dimension.

He found himself at the edge of what looked like a cardboard cut-out forest, like those one would see in a puppet show. Outside of it was a large cardboard cut-out of a meadow that he perceived to stretch on forever, but to a human eye, it would have also looked flat, all with an equally flat background of a blue sky, complete with a dull yellow sun with a crudely drawn smile on it. All the while, small cardboard bunnies moved up and down over a distant "hill," while the Disney song "It's a Small World" played at a bursting decibel from the flat, blue ceiling of this bizarre world.

This was the last place he ever wanted to be again.

"NOOOO!" he screamed in agony.

"Bill!" came a loud voice from stage right. It was a cardboard puppet of his friend Cthulhu, hobbling onto the scene, "or whatever you have decided to call this avatar of yours. You have overstepped your boundaries in creating chaos in the Earth realm. While you may have had your fun in your trickery in Egypt and your torment of that insect Randolph Carter, the realm is not to be destroyed just yet. We must agree unanimously before we obliterate any fledgling dimension!"

"Cthulhu is correct," another voice came from stage left. It was a puppet of Yog-Sothoth, his tentacles not naturally moving but still hobbling into view. For some reason, there was a cardboard top hat on the top of what one might perceive to be his head, though it looked about the same as the rest of his body. "The Earth realm is meant to be off limits until the stars have aligned."

"AAARRRGHGHRRGHRGHHRHGHRHAAARAAAGH!" screamed a colossal, indescribable cardboard puppet of Azathoth against the blue background.

"You heard what your king said," Cthulhu responded, "Now you must face the punishment for your insolence!"

"You know, guys," Bill retorted, "you've had this a long time coming." He pointed his finger at them, expecting to obliterate them, but nothing happened. He looked at the finger, confused about what this could mean.

"Ha," said the cardboard puppet of Hustur, entering from stage right, "Did you really think you still had power here? No, fool. Your hubris has come to a head." All the while, the "I Love You, You Love Me" Barney song played in the distance.

"NOOO!" Bill shouted again.

Outside the weirdness bubble, Ford was already examining the ground. He paced in a circle along each large glyph on the floor.

"I've seen this before," he said, "In a nearby cave, I saw a wheel with these same markings surrounding Bill's effigy. Now, each of us must form within this circle and conveniently surround Bill while he is contained." Each there assembled decided where his or her post would be based on their images. It took much deliberation, but each found their correct symbol. Everyone knew Wendy was cool, so there was no doubt she would be the ice pack. The llama was up for debate until Dipper remembered the toy llama Pacifica had stuffed into his pocked several nights before.

During the deliberation, Gideon had something to say to Mabel.

"Listen, Mabel," Gideon began, getting her attention while she hopped onto the shooting star glyph, "I wanted to say that I'm sorry at least for all the inconsiderateness on my part. I feel like I've done much untoward, and I'm mighty sorry for messin' with y'all's summer break. Seeing you so downtrodden in that there bubble, well, I felt like I had to bring you out of it. So, if you can't forgive me, that's okay, I just wanted to let you know..."

"Shh, it's okay," Mabel said, patting his shoulder, "You're starting to learn the basic human concept that we know as empathy! It means that really, now, when all's said and done, there's nothing to forgive. You're destined to be a great guy, Gideon Gleeful."

"Does that mean there might be a chance of us courting again?" Gideon asked, a huge smile bursting upon his face.

"Don't push your luck, boy," Mabel said, pushing him back by the chest with two fingers, "Down, boy, down."

"And Wendy, I'm sorry for being a manipulative asshole," Robbie said, "It was wrong of me to use that mind control music on you."

"I've already forgiven you for that," Wendy responded, "Anyway, I think you and Tambry are great for each other. One thing, though; rather than talk about yourself or your band, why not listen to her talk about something she's into. Just mention or social media sites to her, and she'll talk your ear off about semantic web and search engine optimization. Didn't make a lot of sense to me, but that's her passion."

"And are you okay, Mr. Pines?" Soos asked Stan, "When I saw you without your mouth in that bubble, I just knew I had to get you out of there."

"Thanks, Soos," Stan said, "It's both a blessing and a curse to have such a bad mouth. It gets me into and out of trouble, and I think that's why Bill tried to take it away, the jerk. Anyways, after all this is over, I'm taking a long vacation...and I was thinking I'm going to need to leave someone in charge of the shack." Soos gasped.

"You don't mean..." Soos croaked.

"That's right, kiddo," Stan said, "I'm making you the new Mr. Mystery!"

"I don't know what to say," Soos said, choking on his words in astonishment.

"You can thank me after all this is over," Stan said, "Right now, I think Egghead over there has a plan." And indeed he did. The group had found their markers and awaited Frod's instructions.

"Everyone, hold hands," Ford said, "And concentrate." Each member of the wheel held the others hand: Dipper, Mabel, Pacifica, Wendy, Soos, Robbie, Gideon, Stan, Ford, and McGucket all began concentrating on the object in the middle and began to feel a warm glow surrounding them. Mabel took one last glance over at Dipper and Pacifica, who were holding each others hands tightly as if they didn't want to let go. She smiled in that she had not only made a friend of an enemy but also that maybe her brother and her former rival had grown so close; maybe they would stay that way and continue to make each other happy as they grew older. After their lavish wedding, what would they name the baby? she thought. These thoughts filled her with joy, and she concentrated on the feeling as the room was enveloped with light.

A cone of white energy shot forth from the circle, engulfing Bill and bursting through the ceiling of the cavern, creating a hole to the surface world. Bill could be heard screaming "NOOO!" from the bubble as the room became ever brighter.

The ten there assembled could feel a growing peace within them. It was a feeling of warmth, bliss, tranquility, and stillness. It was as if the very essence of divinity surrounded them, the Love that moved the sun and the other stars, as Dante described it. Was this were God dwelt?

The next thing any of them knew, they were on the ground, heads pounding, and a bright blue sky opening above them from the cavern ceiling.

"Hey!" they could hear the voice of Nate call, "They're all down here! Get the truck and the rope!"

At last, after spending what seemed like forever in the dark, they were finally set free and heading home.

**And I have one last chapter after this. The epilogue I have in mind is going to be a bit bittersweet, which you can pretty much expect what's going to happen, as it's pretty similar to the end of the television show. But I want to hear from you all. How do you think I should end it? How should I make it different? What would have improved the ending of the show? Please let me know in your comments, and I'll see if I can improve my outline.**


	13. Goodbyes and Returns

"I woke last night to the sound of thunder/How far off I sat and wondered/Started humming a song from 1962/Ain't it funny how the night moves?/When you don't seem to have as much to lose/Ain't it funny how the night moves?/With Autumn closing in..." - Bob Seger.

Robbie had been right. While they had been roaming around in the underground maze, the rest of the town was indeed decimated due to the overwhelming number of monsters roaming around and wreaking havoc. It took several weeks for the townsfolk to repair the damages; it unfortunately did not magically fix itself after the Mystery Shack company banished Bill. The mayor even tried to issue a bill ordering Gravity Falls residence to forget the unpleasantness, calling it the "Never-Mind-All-That" Act, but unfortunately some scars are too deep to forget, too ingrained within the mind to ignore.

Nonetheless, it was a joyous occasion as the word spread throughout the town that the representatives of the destiny wheel had vanquished the malefactor that was Bill Cypher. What Pacifica had told her mother had been correct; this was good PR. She showed that a Northwest could work with the common people and even become close friends with them, that their elitist barrier they had held for so many years was only paper thin, and when it came to uniting against a common enemy, that barrier would easily break. It was then even more unfortunate that she and her family had lost their house, due to her father's stock investment in harnessing "weirdness bubbles" for scientific research. The irony was that the local hobo genius moved in once the property was up for sale. Preston was at least able to make enough back for a large condo within town for the three of them to live. Needless to say, it was more than a little shock to the system for Pacifica, especially when she learned a deceased, disgruntled, former Northwest Mudflaps employee was haunting her room. Was there anyone in town her family had not hurt? She had her work cut out for her when it came to fixing her family's name.

The Pines twins had enjoyed their summer, but summer would not last forever. Autumn would soon be here, another sign of the passage of time and a time for decay and new growth. All part of growing up.

Ford had once again seen the importance of family from their ordeal in the cave, and while he would have offered Dipper an apprenticeship in Gravity Falls, he understood the folly in this in that it would separate him from his beloved, off-the-wall batshit crazy but charming sister and did not press the matter. While he did desire to tour the globe with his brother again, he still felt the weight of age upon him and knew that someone would still need to continue his research of the weirdness of Gravity Falls. But who?

Nonetheless, he would enjoy the festivities of the twins' birthday party, of which the whole town was now taking part. He sat on the steps of the newly repaired Mystery Shack and watched Mabel talk to her friends, whom she hadn't seen through the ordeal.

"So, what did you two do during the Weirdmageddon?" Mabel asked.

"OH IT WAS INCREDIBLE!" Grenda exclaimed.

"Yes," Candy said, "We went looking for you at the Mystery Shack, only to see it in shambles."

"WE WERE SO WORRIED!" Grenda explained.

"We thought that yellow triangle thing had killed you," Candy continued, "That's when Mr Long Beard McGucket showed up and convinced us to fight back against the monsters."

"HE HELPED US TURN THE HOUSE INTO A GIANT ROBOT!" Grenda shouted, "IT WAS THE COOLEST THING EVER!"

"Yes, indeed," Candy replied, her eyes alight with excitement, "The very transhumanist creation of which I've been dreaming. Full human improvement. With the help of some of the friendlier forest monsters, we erected a giant mecha from the parts of the house. We controlled it through mental and physical connectors. We and our weapons were one with each other. With it, we helped the national guard fight most of the monsters in town."

"AND I GOT TO PUNCH A 100-FOOT SQUID-FACED GARGOYLE BACK INTO THE GRAVITY FALLS LAKE!" Grenda added. Mabel thought for a moment.

"That gargoyle thing," Mabel asked, "It wouldn't have gone by the name of Cthulhu would it?"

"WHAT'S A CTHULHU!?" Grenda asked.

"Dunno," Mabel said, "But I think I saw it in one of Grunkle Ford's journals. But it doesn't matter. I'm back here with my best friends on my birthday!"

"We're happy to be here for you, Mabel," Candy said, hugging her.

"WE'RE GLAD YOU'RE OKAY!" Grenda said, getting in on the group hug, "AND WE'RE GLAD YOU AND THE GROUP STOPPED THAT LOUD MOUTHED DORITO!"

"He was really annoying when he appeared in town," Candy said, "But through it all, I think I gained a new-found liking to robotics. I would love to research how to design and build them."

"AND I WOULD LOVE TO PILOT AND CONTROL THEM AGAIN!" Grenda said, "MORE STUFF TO PUNCH!"

"Greetings, ladies," Ford said, walking up to them, "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation."

"Hello, Mr. Pines." Candy said.

"THANKS FOR HELPING OUR FRIEND!" Grenda said, "WISH WE COULD HAVE BEEN THERE FOR THE FINAL SHOWDOWN!"

Ford knelt down. He always felt it was important to meet the level of those with whom he was speaking.

"Listen," he said, "I'm sure you're well familiar with my vast studies in science and the paranormal. I've actually been considering starting an internship program in studying the preternatural and supernatural forces surrounding the town. Candy, Grenda, if you two would be interested in becoming part of this program, you could easily continue your exploration into your interests in engineering and new robotic design. I'm moving my lab from beneath the Mystery Shack to McGucket's new mansion, where we could have a chance to have more space and better facilities. With all the strangeness that continues to take place throughout this town, it would be like an adventure every day. And don't worry; I would work it around your school and music camp. What do you say?"

"WORK ON COOL ROBOTS andapossibleteleportertoMarius'house IN PACIFICA'S OLD MANSION?" Grenda exclaimed, "YOU GOT YOURSELF A DEAL, MR PINES!"

"Indeed, we gladly accept your offer, Mr. Pines," Candy said, musing to herself, "I've already got a new design in mind. It could be a robot that could play video games and tell jokes. I'm thinking of calling it BMO."

Mabel pulled Ford aside near one of the glittery park tables Wendy had helped set up for the party.

"Grunkle Ford," Mabel said, pausing for a moment to think on her words, "Thanks for offering that to my friends. But I know deep down, you wanted to offer that to Dipper after you two got to know each other. What was the change?"

Ford chuckled and shook his head in amusement.

"And separate the new Mystery Twins?" Ford asked facetiously, "Ha! It'd be remiss of me to separate you and your brother. You two clearly need each other. Two halves of a whole that no one should ever disassociate from each other. So, why not offer this to your friends? They're like an extended family anyway, right?"

Mabel smiled, overcome with joy.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you," Mabel squealed, throwing her arms around him, "Oh, I know it means so much to them, and to me for staying near Dipper."

The party went off stupendously. Stan announced Soos would be the new head of the Shack, Mabel smashed the memory-wiping machine as a sign she would never forget any of the townsfolk, and the twins both blew out their cake. Dipper said something to the crowd.

"You know, on my first day here," he began, "If you had asked me what I wanted, I would have said...adventure, mystery, true friends, but looking here at all of you I realize that every wish came true. I have everything I wanted."

"Thanks to y'all savin' us," Gideon shouted from the crowd, "I learned to open my heart to kindness. No more evil doin'."

"Promise, Gideon?" Mabel shouted back.

"Promise," Gideon said with a wink, "Lil' Gideon, regular ol' kid!" As he said this, he thought of what his prison friends could do to anyone who would dare bully him.

Pacifica looked over at him. He had come a long way since since he had first met the twins; maybe she could make the same improvements to herself. Or perhaps she already had. Hopefully the twins saw this. She wouldn't stop putting up the tough front she always had, but she was going to do her best to keep her temper and her judgmental attitude in check.

But the question still remained of what the twins thought of the gifts she picked out for them.

"Hey, you two," she called out, "When are you going to open your presents? I broke a nail wrapping them." She held up her hands, still covered in scotch tape, which got a laugh out of them.

And of course they were pleased with the new custom made putter and Ghost Harassers DVD set. Was there ever any doubt?

And so the day came to an end. The group was gathered at the bus stop. Mabel said goodbye to Candy and Grenda, telling them they were always going to be her best friends.

"And Pacifica," she said, throwing her arms around Pacifica's neck, "I'm glad we could finally be friends."

"Yes, I am, too," Pacifica said, gently pushing her off, "And I'm sorry I was so mean to you…To all three of you. Candy, you're obviously really smart, and your quirks really are endearing. And Grenda, you've really got this Gina Carano, Joan Laurer thing going for you; don't lose sight of it."

"AWW, IT'S OKAY, PACIFICA!" Grenda shouted, bear-hugging Pacifica, causing her to gasp, "ANY FRIEND OF MARIUS IS A FRIEND OF MINE!"

"Yes, we forgive you Pacifica," Candy said, patting her on the shoulder, "And if you want to date Dipper, I won't get in the way."

"You had a crush on him, too?" Pacifica asked, eyebrows raised.

"Oh yeah," Mabel answered, "It's been an ongoing three-way battle all day between you, Candy, and Wendy."

"MABEL AND I HAVE BEEN TAKING BETS," Grenda said excitedly.

"So now that Candy's out of the race, it's down to you and Wendy," Mabel said, looking over at Dipper and Wendy exchanging hats, "If you want to make your move, now is the time to do it."

Looking at the two of them, Pacifica clinched her fists. The jealousy she was feeling was purely irrational, especially since she knew their relationship was platonic (she did have plenty of conversations with her at the birthday party regarding it), but her rage built nonetheless.

Just after Wendy gave Dipper the note that everyone had signed, Pacifica stomped over to where they were.

"And I think this awesome girl here has something she wants to give you, too." Wendy said. Pacifica pushed her index and middle fingers into Wendy's stomach and pushed her back, shooting her a glare, as if to say "Back off." Pacifica looked back at Dipper, a somewhat surprised look on his face. She looked him over, trying to come up with something to say. After all they went through, after all the development they went through this summer as the people they would become, what could she really say to this boy she had come to adore? After staring at each other a moment, he finally smiled at her and took her hand.

"It's okay," he said, "Just try to relax and let loose for once."

"Dipper," Pacifica finally replied, "I'm...I'm really going to miss you..."

"I'll miss you, too," he said, laughing back at her.

"Don't laugh," Pacifica said, "This is really hard for me." She paused for a moment. But the pause was too long. She looked back up at him, and her instincts reacted. She immediately kissed him, this time much longer and more passionately than she had. Dipper realized he felt tongue this time.

Wendy and Mabel both smiled at this.

"OH MAN," Grenda said, "I LOST FIVE BUCKS." She handed five dollars over to Mabel, who accepted it enthusiastically.

"You better Skype call me every day, you understand, Dork?" Pacifica stammered. "You hear me? Otherwise, I'm going to miss you and your sister too much!" He could tell she was starting to tear up. Wendy handed Pacifica the "See you next summer!" note everyone had signed, which she then handed to Dipper.

"We will, don't worry," Dipper said, "As often as we can."

And so, the group watched the twins (and their new pet pig) climb on the Greyhound bus back to California. They all ran after them, waving at the window and shouting their goodbyes. Pacifica was distraught, perhaps more than the rest of them, but she was doing her best not to show it, choking back her sobs.

"It's okay, kiddo," Stan said behind her, "We're all missing them already."

"Miss Northwest, if I may," Ford began, "I'm starting an apprenticeship program with McGucket Industries. Candy and Grenda here have already signed on board. You have a more exceptional mind than you may believe and have shown a great resilience and resolve within the cave when we were facing Bill; I think you would fit in nicely. I spoke briefly with Preston and Priscilla regarding it, and they seemed to agree so long as we could work it around your school schedule. Just think, you could still visit your old home while gaining a new vocation in science, or business if you prefer, given your family's history. I'll sit with the three of you and work out the details if you would be at all interested."

He paused; he could see that she was confused by this.

"The other reason I ask is because I know you're still having nightmares and visions of the Yithian world. I would like if I can to perhaps analyze this and put a stop to it, to finally give you peace of mind and better sleep. You may not believe it, but despite your parents' demeanor, they are concerned for you, and that's one of the reasons they agreed to this."

"AND WE'LL HELP YOU EVERY STEP OF THE WAY!" Grenda said.

"Gravity Falls nightmares have ended," Candy said, "It's time for yours to end, too."

Pacifica smiled. Even if her home life was terrible, she at least had some real friends on whom she could rely. And if it meant getting rid of whatever was haunting her dreams, she would do it.

October 31st, 2012

"Can you believe it?" Pacifica groaned to her laptop screen, Dipper being on the other end, "Halloween fell right in the middle of the week this year!" She was dressed as a black cat this year.

"Tell me about it," Dipper said; he was dressed as Batman. "We've got school the next day! Ugh! At least I finished my homework beforehand."

"You're one up on me there," Pacifica said, "I've still got about a paragraph or so left on my science report for tomorrow. But hopefully it won't be too hard. It doesn't help that the teacher gets on my last nerve. Something about his voice, I don't know."

"Hi Pacifica!" Mabel shouted, popping up on the screen. She was dressed as her interpretation of the Carrie Kelly Robin. "Tell her the good news already, Dipper!"

"Well, we were going to surprise you," Dipper began, "But we're coming back up for Winter Break, along with mom and dad this time!"

"That's great!" Pacifica said, "I was hoping you two could bug the crap out of me again sooner than next summer."

The three kids laughed.

"Mom and dad are ready to go!" Mabel said to Dipper, "Bye Pacifica! Happy Halloween!" With that, she raced off screen through the bedroom door and down the hall.

"You, too," she responded, rubbing her temple. "Sometimes, I wish I could bottle your sister's energy."

"I could use an energy boost myself to get through some of my classes," Dipper said, "But...it'll be really nice to see you again."

"It will," Pacifica said, smiling awkwardly, "Now go on, Dipstick! We both have people waiting on us!"

"Sure, princess," Dipper said, "Bye for now! Happy Halloween!"

"You too, nerd!" Pacifica said, she paused to blow him a kiss, closed the Skype call, and shut the laptop. She then raced down the stairs where Candy, Grenda, and two of her other friends were waiting.

"What took so long?" one of her friends asked.

"Just had an important call," Pacifica said, grabbing her bag off a nearby chair near the front door.

"And why did you invite the nerds?" her other friend asked, pointing to Candy and Grenda, "They've been weirding us out the whole night."

"Hey, they may be weird, but they're still my friends," Pacifica said, "Give them a chance, okay?" She walked over to Candy and Grenda. "So what are you two dressed as?"

"I WAS KIND OF GOING FOR THIS POST-APOCALYPSE THING!" Grenda said, "MY DAD JUST SHOWED ME THESE OLD MOVIES CALLED THE MAD MAX SERIES, AND I GOT THE IDEA FROM THAT! AND LOOK!" She held up her arm, showing a robotic, light-up glove that reached up to her shoulder, "I MADE THIS IN ONE OF MCGUCKET'S LABS!" She threw a punch in the air and grunted.

"And I'm wearing a costume based around my new BMO designs," Candy said, making a "Bee-upe!" noise afterward.

Pacifica paused.

"You both look great," she said, patting the air with her hand as if to reassure them.

The night continued, and the group visited plenty of residences when, at one point, Pacifica looked off between two of the houses and saw something between the trees of the back woods near the suburban neighborhood. It looked like a large dragonfly, but it's head appeared to be glowing. It showed red, blue, and green colors and continued to change. The odd thing is that it kept staring at her. She heard what sounded like the beating of wings from a large swarm of insects and saw the thing begin to move from behind the tree. This was not any normal insect; it was now clearly the size of a Clydesdale horse. She then saw what looked like more of the red, blue, and green flashing lights in the distance above the tree line, appearing similar to the aurora borealis. The thing dashed towards her from between the trees and…

Pacifica then found herself again in the ancient city of Pnakotus where she was closing a book with her claws and placing it on a large shelf full of other books.

"No one must find these," she heard an ethereal perversion of her voice say.

"Nyarlathotep will seek them out," another Yithian said from behind her.

"He is already making his way to Earth from the second dimension," her own voice said again, "We will be sure he does not take a physical form. I have already projected my consciousness into a young woman three billion years from now."

"Indeed, The Old Ones will not win," the other Yithian said.

Just then, Pacifica's vision changed. She was now hovering over ancient Egypt, where Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos and Dark Pharaoh, stood over an enslaved multitude high atop the stairs of a wondrous golden palace. He wore a golden triangular headress and threw out his arms, as if to command the multitude to continue their adoration of him. He then laughed hideously, the sound flooding the air like poisonous gas.

She recognized the laugh. It was clearly Bill's.

The next thing she knew, she was resting against the tree of one of the houses, an ambulance blaring its lights from the street, and some EMTs, her friends, Priscilla, and Ford all standing over her.

"What?" she mumbled out, "What happened? Where am I?"

"You're safe, sweetie," Priscilla said, "You're okay now."

"You fainted, passed out, and started foaming at the mouth," Candy said.

"I CALLED 911 RIGHT AWAY!" Grenda said.

"We were so worried," her two other friends said in unison.

"Is she going to be okay, Dr. Pines," Priscilla asked, a genuine concern in her voice Pacifica did not recognize.

"Yes," Ford said, "We will do what we can to put an end to this. No more night terrors for you, young lady."

December 22nd, 2012

After some time and many brain scans, the horrid nightmares and dreamscapes eventually ceased. Pacifica was able to return to a normal life with better sleep. As soon as December rolled around, she, along with the rest of Gravity Falls, were all excited to see the return of the Pines twins.

The group waited at the bus stop near the Mystery Shack. The air was frigid, a light snow covered the ground, and pines were still caked in frost. The sky was a light blue with the sun giving a slight vermillion tent in the east, thick clouds stifling its spread; it was an interesting clash of colors similar to modern water color paintings.

"I'm not complaining," Wendy said, "I'll be glad to get to see them again, but did they have to come this early in the morning?"

"They wanted to enjoy as much daylight as they could," Stan said, "I'm sure there's quite a bit of this town the twins want to show their parents,"

"How were your sailings in the arctic sea, Mr. Pines?" Candy asked.

"Harrowing," Ford said, "But we now have quite a few new interesting stories and plenty of paranormal data to research."

"And I found plenty of treasure and a really hot babe," Stan said, "Even my nerdy brother here met this Russian chick who I think had a thing for him."

"Yes, well, I…" Ford stammered, blushing.

"Guys, look," Pacifica shouted, "I see them coming!"

Sure enough, the bus appeared over the hill in the distance and came closer in no time at all. The vehicle finally stopped, the door opened, and Mabel leapt forth from the stairs.

"We meet again, Gravity Falls!" she shouted in her usual comic fashion.

Dipper stepped off from the bus as well, holding plenty of books and packages in his arms.

"Dipper!" Pacifica said, throwing her arms around his neck, causing him to drop everything in the road, "I'm so glad you came back!"

**And there we have it, and end to the story. I've worked on this for over a year now. I had fun working on it, and I hope you had fun reading it. It's a very Pacifica centered story. I guess I kept going with it because I was kind of annoyed that they gave this character some development and backstory and didn't do anything with it. But I hope I've remedied that at least a little. Also look up the song "Freddy the Red-Brained Mi-Go" to get an idea of what Pacifica saw in the woods. **


End file.
